THE FEATHER MAN 247 



graver. Whence, under the law of protective col- 

 oration, would the Kinglet get his ruby crown or 

 the Woodpecker his red head? What is the pro- 

 tective value of the Peacock's train or the bridal 

 plumage of the Egret? 



**As it seems to me, Shan, every bird must be 

 of some color, and certain species of birds are 

 biologically capable of generating a certain num- 

 ber of fundamental colors, not more than two or 

 three at most, the color pigment being a chemical 

 composition thrown off as waste and lodged in the 

 tegumentary system of the bird. As the vitality 

 of the bird is higher during the mating season, 

 there is more of this waste and hence more of the 

 color. In the hen-birds the vitality is expended in 

 laying and brooding, in the male birds, in color and 

 song." * 



''But I thought," said Shan, ''that male birds 

 were supposed to be brightly colored so that the 

 hen-birds could choose the handsomest." 



"That form of selection undoubtedly exists to 

 a certain extent, my boy," the Feather Man re- 



1 In justice to the U. S. Biological Survey, the author wishes 

 to state that the theory contained in this paragraph is not en- 

 dorsed by all ornithologists. To the author, this theory, enun- 

 ciated by Keeler, seems the best fitted to explain many problems 

 pf bird coloration. 



