Thus, opisthuretic animals copulate with a
rearward presentment, as is the case with the lion, the hare, and
the lynx; though, by the way, in the case of the hare, the female is
often observed to cover the male.
The case is similar in most other such animals; that is to say,
the majority of quadrupeds copulate as best they can, the male
mounting the female; and this is the only method of copulating adopted
by birds, though there are certain diversities of method observed even
in birds. For in some cases the female squats on the ground and the
male mounts on top of her, as is the case with the cock and hen
bustard, and the barn-door cock and hen; in other cases, the male
mounts without the female squatting, as with the male and female
crane; for, with these birds, the male mounts on to the back of the
female and covers her, and like the cock-sparrow consumes but very
little time in the operation. Of quadrupeds, bears perform the
operation lying prone on one another, in the same way as other
quadrupeds do while standing up; that is to say, with the belly of the
male pressed to the back of the female. Hedgehogs copulate erect,
belly to belly.
With regard to large-sized vivipara, the hind only very rarely
sustains the mounting of the stag to the full conclusion of the
operation, and the same is the case with the cow as regards the
bull, owing to the rigidity of the penis of the bull.
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