COURTSHIP. 105 



the quills of which rattle like the pattering of 

 rain upon leaves. Often this movement is fol- 

 lowed by a loud scream. 



When the train is fully erect it will be noticed 

 that it lies so far forward that the bird's head and 

 neck appears as if rising from its base. In a side 

 view the whole body, from the front of the wings 

 backwards, appears to lie behind the train. 



The curious part of it is, as in the case of the 

 bustard and of the ruffs, the female appears to 

 be supremely indifferent to all this fuss. Perhaps 

 it is etiquette to behave thus — to affect an in- 

 difTerence they do not feel. 



The argus-pheasant, writes Mr Darwin, "... 

 affords a much more remarkable case. The 

 immensely developed secondary wing-feathers are 

 contined to the male, and each is ornamented 

 with a row of from twenty to twenty-three ocelli 

 above an inch in diameter. These feathers are 

 also elegantly marked with oblique stripes and 

 rows of spots of a dark colour, like those on the 

 skin of a tiger and leopard combined. These 

 beautiful ornaments are hidden until the male 

 shows himself off before the female. He then 

 erects his tail, and expands his wing-feathers 

 into a great, almost upright, circular fan or 

 shield, which is carried in front of the body. 

 The neck and head are held on one side so that 

 they are concealed by the fan ; but the bird, in 

 order to see the female, before whom he is 

 displaying himself, sometimes pushes his head 

 between two of the long wing-feathers . . . 

 and then presents a grotesque appearance. This 

 must be a frequent habit with the bird in a state 



