306 THE COLOUKS OF ANIMALS 



pose that the ancestor of Synageles picata only differed 

 from this species in having the first pair of legs 

 coloured like the others. The whole body of facts 

 brought together by G. W. and E. G. Peckham 

 strongly support the opinion that any variation of the 

 male with rather more brilliant first legs would be 

 preferred by the great majority of females, and that 

 the character and its display would be improved 

 during successive generations by their continued 

 preference. 



The courtship of the Argus Pheasant 



Mr. "Wallace says that it was the case of the 

 Argus Pheasant, * as fully discussed by Mr. Darwin, 

 which first shook my belief in " sexual " or more pro- 

 perly " female " selection.' ^ 



Since Darwin's description and Wallace's objection, 

 Mr. Forbes has given us an account of the habits of 

 this bird in its native country ; and the elaborate dis- 

 play of the plumage by the males and the evident atten- 

 tion of the females, render it at least probable that 

 the latter have decided ojDinions as to the relative 

 beauty of their suitors, and that their preferences 

 have led to the gradual evolution of the wonderful 

 markings, shaded so as to represent ' balls lying loosely 

 within sockets.' ^ 



Mr. Forbes tells us that the bird makes * a large 



' Tropical Nature, pp. 205-206. 



• The Duke of Argyll in The Reign of Law, 1867, p. 203. 



