26 ORTHOGENETIC EVOLUTION IN PIGEONS. 



for comparison three stages in an ascending series, namely, the juvenal (text-fig. 5), 

 the adult female (text-fig. 6), and the adult male (text-fig. 7). As in so many 

 other birds, the male makes the widest departure from original conditions; the 

 female occupies a lower plane; the young are nearly alike in both sexes and may be 

 said to recapitulate ancestral conditions with less modification than is seen in the 

 adult of either sex. 



Explanation of Plate R. 



A. Left wing of bronze-winged pigeon, Phaps chalcoptera ; probably female No. S 1, red. Hayaslii 

 del., May 1899. x 0.75. 



Description, December 25, 1S98. 



First bar. — Some of the feathers are imperfect. This bar has four brilliant spots. There is a finish and definition 

 here that excel anything I have seen thus far on the pigeons. 



Feathers Nos. 14 and 13 have no spots. 



No. 12 is darker in lower web, but no distinct spot. 



Nos. 11 to 6, six feathers, which in closed wing are seen in upper part, are thus marked. 



Nos. 11 to 8 have the four most brilliant spots. These spots have a rich purplish reflection, in some lights show- 

 ing only black. The inner secondaries have in addition to the spots a steel-blue reflection on the outer web. In all 

 these spots the fawn-color of the lower edge and tips of the feathers extends from the edge up into the web, forming 

 a beautiful border on the terminal end of the spot, half converting the spot into an ocellate form. Notice that all 

 these spots are more or less pointed posteriorly. 



No. 11 spot is ovate in shape, with small end behind. It is bordered with a velvety black just within the light- 

 fawn border behind. 



No. 10 has a boot-shape with toe pointing backward; longest measure, 23 mm.; transverse, S mm. 



No. 8 spot similar in shape, but more pointed at toe. 



No. 6 spot is oval oblong and duller. 



These four brilliant spots are placed where they can be seen to best advantage in the closed wing. 



Second bar. — There are 6 brilliant spots. Here the lower 5 feathers have a metallic green reflection on the lower 

 web, which becomes stronger upward, giving a spot on 5 that has an oval center of a bronze-green reflection. This 

 becomes stronger in Nos. 6 and 7, and in No. 8 enlarges to an oblong form 10 by 11 mm., with a light-fawn streak 

 as border behind. 



In No. 9 we have the largest spot — squarish, measuring 16 x 11 mm. From here on to No. 13 the spots become 

 smaller. 



From No. 8 to No. 12 the spots show more or less obtuse points backward. 



The spot on 13 is not pointed; it is the smallest, measuring 7 by 8 mm. 

 These spots, like those on the median and lesser coverts, are on a golden bronze-green, often reflecting a rich 

 coppery red. 



Here, as before, the spots are developed on the upper middle feathers, where they can be seen to host advantage . 



Third bar. — Has 14 brilliant spots. This is the most highly developed bar, so far as number and brilliancy go. 

 The 14 brilliant spots are all bluntly pointed behind. They increase in size and color from below up to the eighth 

 (the largest) and then diminish gradually to the last or fourteenth. Here again it is the middle feathers that are 

 richest. Sizes: Lower spot (1) 12 by 6 to 12 mm., largest (8) 10 by 9 mm., smallest (14) 2 by 3 to 12. The rounded 

 posterior ends encircled with velvet-black and light fawn-color, giving the spots quite an eye-like appearance. 



In Nos. 8 and 9 the spot extends a little above the shaft, reaching highest point in No. 11, where it has the 

 bronze-green reflection. This seems to be a rudiment of an upper spot. 



Fourth bar. — Has 11 brilliant spots, beginning in No. 3 (perhaps on No. 2), becoming largest on Nos. 5, 0, 7, 

 and 8, then diminishing upward to a small circular spot of 3 by 4 mm. on No. 13. The spots are not quite so many 

 nor quite so large on the average as in third bar. Most of them are bluntly pointed backward. 



These spots begin to cross above shaft, slightly in Nos. .5, 6, 7, and more plainly in Nos. 8 and 9, and in No. 10 

 1 notice the same bronze reflection in the small upper spot. This spot becomes black in No. 1 1 , and is not seen above. 

 I find that the number of spots in a series, or row, differs in the two individuals I have. The specimen described 

 has smaller spots than the other, and they are not so rich in color. 



B. The bronze-wing, Phaps elegans. Adult male, x 0.75. Hayashi del., Sept. 1904. In first 

 bar 3 spots. 



Note and description, Sept. 11, 1905. 



I have two males that have just died. In one of these I find no distinct chequers in the tertials on the left side, 

 but on the right side there are two obsolete chequers. The second and third bars are about as well developed as 

 in specimen drawn. In the other I find two very obscure spots in the tertials of the left side and only one such spot 

 on the right side. I find no spots in the second bar of the right side (some were lost on left sidl — presumably they 

 were about the same). Thus while the first bar is almost obsolete, the second bar has two more spots than shown 

 in the figure drawn. 



