no 



of protection. According to Wallace the hen alone 

 incubates and she is exposed to peculiar danger, liable 

 to be attacked by birds of pre}^ while incubating, hence 

 natural selection has prevented her from developing 

 all the brilliant colours and showy plumes that charac- 

 terise the male. Wallace adduces much evidence in 

 favour of his theory. Ingenious though it be, the 

 hypothesis will not bear close scrutiny. In the first 

 place birds of prey usually direct their attention to 

 flying objects ; it is, I believe, very unusual for them 

 to attack birds that are silting on their nests, hence an 

 incubating bird is not exposed to any peculiar dangers. 

 Again, Wallace was wrong in assuming that in the 

 case of all sexually dimorphic birds that build open 

 nests the inconspicuously-coloured sex alone incu- 

 bates, and it is here that the avicullurist can speak as 

 one having authority, for he is frequently able to 

 watch the whole process of incubation very closely. 

 My experiences as a field naturalist show that in some 

 species in which sexual dimorphism is very marked 

 and which build open nests, the cock and hen share 

 in the duties of incubation. 



The splendid Indian Paradise Flycatcher {Terpsi- 

 phojie paradisi) is a case in point. The hen is in shape 

 and size like a Bulbul, her crested head is jet black, 

 and all the rest of the plumage, save the greyish 

 breast, is a rich chestnut colour. The old cock bird is 

 snowy white, except for his metallic black head. Two 

 of his tail feathers attain a length of twenty inches and 

 look like white satin streamers. The bird builds a 

 deep cup-shaped nest, in which the cock frequently 

 sits and is, when sitting, a very conspicuous object. In 

 fact the easiest way to find the nest of this species is 



