106 THE STORY OF BIRD-LIFE. 



of nature, for . . . on examining some perfect 

 skins sent from the east [there wasj found a 

 place between two of the feathers which was 

 much frayed, as if the head had here frequently 

 been pushed through. 



" The ocelli on the wing-feathers are wonderful 

 objects, for they are so shaded that, as the Duke 

 of Argyll remarks, they stand out like balls lying 

 loosely within sockets. When I looked at the 

 specimen in the British Museum, which is 

 mounted with the wings expanded and trailing 

 downwards, I was, however, greatly disappointed 

 for the ocelli appeared fiat, or even concave. 

 But Mr Gould soon made the case clear to me, 

 for he held the feathers erect, in the position in 

 which they would naturally be displayed; and 

 now, from the light shining on them from above, 

 each ocellus at once resembled the ornament 

 called a ball and socket." 



" The foregoing remarks relate to the second- 

 ary wing - feathers, but the primary wing 

 feathers, which in most gallinaceous birds are 

 uniformly coloured, are in the argus-pheasant 

 equally wonderful. They are of a soft brown 

 tint, with numerous dark spots, each of which 

 consists of two or three black dots, with 

 a surrounding dark zone. But the chief orna- 

 ment is a space parallel to the dark-blue shaft, 

 which in outline forms a perfect second feather 

 lying within the true feather. This inner part 

 is coloured of a lighter chestnut, and is thickly 

 dotted with minute white points. . . . Now, 

 these feathers are quite hidden on all ordinary 

 occasions, but are fully displayed, together with 



