Chap. XIII. DISPLAY BY THE MALE. 93 



his plumes, and on the elaboration of the most elegant 

 patterns. Many will declare that it is utterly incredible 

 that a female bird should be able to appreciate fine 

 shading and exquisite patterns. It is undoubtedly a 

 marvellous fact that she should possess this almost 

 human degree of taste, though perhaps she admires 

 the general effect rather than each separate detail. 

 He who thinks that he can safely gauge the discrimi- 

 nation and taste of tlie lower animals, may deny that 

 the female Argus pheasant can appreciate such refined 

 beauty ,• but he will then be compelled to admit that 

 the extraordinary attitudes assumed by the male during 

 the act of courtship, by which the wonderful beauty of 

 his plumage is fully displayed, are purposeless ; and 

 this is a conclusion which I for one will never admit. 



Although so many pheasants and allied gallinaceous 

 birds carefully display their beautiful plumage before 

 the females, it is remarkable, as Mr. Bartlett informs 

 me, that this is not the case with the dull-coloured 

 Eared and Cheer pheasants {Grossojptilon auritum and 

 Phasianus Wallichii) ; so that these birds seem con- 

 scious that they have little beauty to display. IMr, 

 Bartlett has never seen the males of either of these 

 species fighting together, though he has not had such 

 good opportunities for observing the Cheer as the 

 Eared pheasant. Mr. Jenner Weir, also, finds tliat 

 all male birds with rich or strongly-characterised 

 plumage are more quarrelsome than the dull-coloured 

 species belonging to the same groups. The gold- 

 finch, for instance, is far more pugnacious than the 

 linnet, and the black-bird than the thrush. Those birds 

 which undergo a seasonal change of plumage like- 

 wise become much more pugnacious at the period when 

 they are most gaily ornamented. No doubt the mides 

 of some obscurely-coloured birds fight desperately 



