Ohap. XLV. Preference by the Female. 419 



" peacock to touch them. On his being let out in the autumn, 

 " the oldest of the hens instantly courted him, and was success- 

 " ful in her courtship. The next year he was shut up in a stable, 

 " and then the hens all courted his rival." 26 This rival was a 

 iapanned or black- winged peacock, to our eyes a more beautiful 

 bird than the common kind. 



Lichtenstein, who was a good observer and had excellent 

 opportunities of observation at the Cape of Good Hope, assured 

 Rudolph! that the female widow-bird (Chera proyne) disowns the 

 male, when robbed of the long tail-feathers with which he is 

 ornamented during the breeding-season. I presume that this 

 observation must have been made on birds under confinement. 27 

 Here is an analogous case ; Dr. Jaeger, 28 director of the Zoological 

 Gardens, of Vienna, states that a male silver-pheasant, who had 

 been triumphant over all other males and was the accepted 

 lover of the females, had his ornamental plumage spoiled. He 

 was then immediately superseded by a rival, who got the upper 

 hand and afterwards led the flock. 



It is a remarkable fact, as shewing how important colour is in 

 the courtship of birds, that Mr. Boardman, a well-known col- 

 lector and observer of birds for many years in the Northern 

 United States, has never in his large experience seen an albino 

 paired with another bird; yet he has had opportunities of 

 observing many albinos belonging to several species. 29 It can 

 hardly be maintained that albinos in a state of nature are 

 incapable of breeding, as they can be raised with the greatest 

 facility under confinement. It appears, therefore, that we must 

 attribute the fact that they do not pair, to their rejection by 

 their normally coloured comrades. 



Female birds not only exert a choice, but in some few cases 

 they court the male, or even fight together for his possession. 

 Sir E. Heron states that with peafowl, the first advances are 

 always made by the female ; something of the same kind takes 

 place, according to Audubon, with the older females of the wild 

 turkey. With the capercailzie, the females flit round the male 

 whilst he is parading at one of the places of assemblage, and 

 solicit his attention. 30 We have seen that a tame wild-duck 



26 'Proc. Zool. Soc' 1835, p. 54. ihre Stollung zu Moral und Re- 

 The japanned peacock is considered ligiou,' 1869, s. 59. 



by Mr. Sclater as a distinct species, *■ This statement is given by Mi 



and has been named Paco nigri- A. Leith Adams, in his ' Field and 



pennis; but the evidence seems to Forest Rambles,' L873, p. 76, and 



me to shew that it is only a variety. accords with his own experience. 



27 Rudolphi, 'Beytrage zur An- 30 In regard to peafowl, see Sir 

 thropologie,' 1812, s. 184. R. Heron, 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc' 1835, 



28 ' Die Darwin'sche Theorie, und p. 54, and the ttev. E. S. Dixon, 



