CHAPTER XX 



The Assumption of Male Plumage by Female Pheasants 



That hen Pheasants occasionally assume the male plumage 

 is a fact well known to anyone having an extensive acquaint- 

 ance with Pheasants, either in covert or in aviary, but this 

 assumption of the male characteristics is by no means confined 

 to Pheasants, as innumerable instances have been recorded 

 in various other members of the feathered tribe. The trans- 

 formation of plumage is gradual, and is usually regarded as 

 evidence of sterility, but it has been proved, not only in 

 Pheasants, but in other birds, that it must not be accepted 

 as positive of such evidence. In other words, it is the out- 

 ward expression of degenerative changes in connection with 

 the reproductive organs within, though, as stated above, not 

 a rule free from exceptions. 



The transition begins at the extremities of the feathers, 

 and proceeds with a tolerable degree of uniformity, until the 

 bird is invested with a mantle of plumage almost identical 

 with that of the male. In certain instances doubt has arisen 

 as to the identity of the sex, but it is not difficult to establish 

 this by after-death examination. The presence of the 

 oviduct, or the existence of the degenerative stage of the 

 ovary, will afford positive proof as to the sex. The mere 

 presence of spurs is not sufficient to satisfy the exacting 

 mind, because some hens, as is well known, develop spurs, 

 though in a modified form. An acute observer can detect 

 the feminine element in the physiognomy of the bird, so 

 H 113 



