Cha.p. XIV.] GRADATION OF CHARACTER. 



137 



A B 



C 



toward the left-band upper corner, the feather being held 

 erect, in the position 

 in which it is here 

 drawn. Beneath this 

 thickened part there is 

 on the surface of the 

 ball an oblique almost 

 pure-white mark which 

 shades off downward 

 into a pale-leaden hue, 

 and this into yellow- 

 ish and brown tints, 

 which insensibly be- 

 come darker and dark- 

 er toward the lower 

 part of the ball. It 

 is this shading, which 

 gives so admirably the 

 effect of light shining 

 on a convex surface. 

 If one of the balls be 

 examined,' it will be 

 seen that the lower 

 part is of a browner 



■lint onrl i« inr1i<itinr>tl v- Fig. 56.— Part of Secondary wing-feather of 



lint ana is maisuncuy An?us pheaBanti Bhowin J two, a and &, P er- 



covkivn+pfl \\xr n pnrvprl feet ocelli. A, B, C, etc., dark stripes run- 



sepai atea Dy a curvea ni?g obliquely ' downi each to an ocellus. 



oblique line from the [Much of the web on both sides, especially to 



. the left of the shaft, has been cut off]. 



upper part, which is 



yellower and more leaden ; this oblique line runs at right 

 angles to the longer axis of the white patch of light, and 

 indeed of all the shading ; but this difference in the tints, 

 which cannot of course be shown in the woodcut, does not 

 in the least interfere with the perfect shading of the ball. 48 



48 When the Argus pheasant displays his wing-feathers like a great 

 fan, those nearest to the body stand more upright than the outer ones, 



