THE INDIAN REDSTART 163 



uniformly grey and that they are becoming a uniform 

 black. The tendency seems to be for the grey margin 

 to become narrower. It will probably eventually 

 disappear. In some birds it is so narrow that much 

 black shows even after the autumn moult ; in others the 

 margin is so broad that it never disappears. What is 

 causing this change in plumage ? It cannot be the 

 need for protection. The incipient blackness is pro- 

 bably an indirect result of either natural or sexual 

 selection. Thus birds with black bases to their feathers 

 may be either more robust or have stronger sexual 

 instincts than those which have scarcely any black. 

 In the former case natural selection, and in the latter 

 sexual selection, will tend to preserve those individuals 

 which have the least grey in their feathers. This idea 

 of the connection between colour and strength is not 

 mere fancy. Cuckoo-coloured (barred-grey) birds are 

 very common among ordinary fowls, but are, I beheve, 

 never seen among Indian gamecocks. Grey plumage 

 seems to be inconsistent with fighting propensities. 

 Black, on the other hand, seems to be a good fighting 

 colour. Most black-plumaged birds, as, for example, 

 the king crow, the various members of the crow tribe, 

 and the coot, are exceedingly pugnacious. 



Redstarts hve largely on the ground, from which 

 they pick their food. This appears to consist ex- 

 clusively of tiny insects. They sometimes hawk 

 their quarry on the wing. They are usually found near 

 a hedge or thicket, into which they take refuge when 

 disturbed. They show but Httle fear of man, and, con- 

 sequently, frequent gardens. They occasionally perch 



