236 On the Display of the. Peacock-pheasant.


wings. Thus from the standpoint of display, the Peacock-

pheasant is highly instructive. He practices, with modifications,

the ‘ lateral’ method characteristic of Pheasants, and the ‘ frontal’

method exhibited by the Peacock and Turkey, showing how the

one method may have passed into the other. He supplies iu

addition a connecting link between the two stages of ‘ frontal ’

display manifested respectively by the Peacock or Turkey and

the Argus Pheasant.


There is one more point to be noticed. It may be inferred

from Darwin’s above-quoted remarks about the Peacock that he

supposed the method of frontal display practised by this bird

was assumed to show off “ his rich blue throat and breast,” as

well as his erect and expanded tail ; the assumption of the

particular attitude, that is to say, was a habit acquired subse¬

quently to the decoration of the areas in question. It may be so.

It must be remembered, however, that the Peacock’s ‘train’ is

composed, not of the tail-feathers, but of the enormously elon¬

gated tail-coverts which are uplifted and supported by the fan-

shaped tail spreading beneath them exactly as the tails of the

Argus, Peacock-pheasant and Turkey are spread. Hence it

appears to me probable that the wonderful ‘ train ’ of the Peacock,

a very special development, was originally acquired in a less

perfect form by an ancestor of this bird that had already adopted

the frontal attitude in courtship. In other words the assumption

of the pose was antecedent to the growth of the ‘ train.’ The

same opinion may be held about the coloration of the neck and

throat. That frontal display may be practised quite irrespective

of special coloration of the head and breast is proved by the case

of the Peacock-pheasant. This being so it must not be hastily

assumed that the brilliant blue pervading these parts in the

Peacock is related in a causal sense to the attitude of this bird

in display.


Those who describe the courtship of such birds as the

species constituting the subject-matter of this article usually

write as if unquestioningly accepting the proposition that the

cocks purposely pose in a particular manner to display their

decorated plumes, adopting the attitudes that make the most of

their beauty. My own opinion is that we shall be nearer the



