THE PLUMAGE OF BIRDS. 



THE colors and forms of the plumage of birds are gen- 

 erally regarded as mere accidents, unattended with any 

 advantages in their economy. I cannot believe, however, 

 that they are not in some way, which we cannot fully 

 understand, indispensable to their existence as a species. 

 Let me then endeavor to discover, if possible, the design 

 of Nature in spreading such a variety of tints upon the 

 plumage of birds, and to learn the advantages they derive 

 from these native ornaments. Do they affect the vision 

 of birds with the sensation of beauty, and serve to attract 

 together individuals of the same species ? Or are they 

 designed also to protect them from the keen sight of their 

 enemies, while flitting among the blossoms of the trees ? 

 It is probable that each of these purposes is subserved by 

 this provision of Nature. She has clothed individuals 

 of the same species and the same sex with uniformity, 

 that they may readily identify their own kindred, and has 

 given them an innate susceptibility to derive pleasure from 

 those colors that predominate in the plflmage of their own 

 species. She has likewise distinguished the small birds 

 that live on trees by beautiful colors, while those in gen- 

 eral that run upon the ground are marked by neutral 

 tints, that the former may be less easily observed among 

 the blossoms of the trees, and that the latter may be less 

 conspicuous while sitting or running upon the ground. 



It is well known that the males of many species are 

 more beautifully and brilliantly decorated than the fe- 

 males, and that the singing-birds in general have less 



