GONADOTROPHIC HORMONE SECRETION IN THE FEMALE RING DOVE IN RESPONSE TO VISUAL AND AUDITORY STIMULATION BY THE MALE

Abstract

SUMMARY Female ring doves secrete gonadotrophic hormone in response to courtship behaviour of the male. This investigation was concerned with the quantitative relationship between the courtship stimulation presented to females and the responses of their reproductive systems. In a first experiment the degree of female reproductive tract development was found to be correlated with the length of time of daily exposure to a courting male. In a second experiment exposure time was held constant and the amount of courtship presented to females was varied by using different programmes of stimulation by males. Here too, the degree of female reproductive tract development was correlated with the amount of daily courtship behaviour presented. It therefore appears that in the female ring dove secretion of gonadotrophin is graded in accordance with the amount of courtship behaviour perceived by her.