96 THE COURTSHIP OF ANIMALS 



nearest female and slowly erects these extraordinary 

 plumes. So soon as this is accomplished he begins to 

 walk backwards towards the object of his attentions, 

 presenting nothing but a great round shield of dull brown 

 feathers, backed up by the tail-feathers, and the dull- 

 coloured wings. So soon as he judges himself near enough, 

 however, he suddenly swirls round, confronting her in all 

 his splendour, and heightening the effect with a loud scream 

 accompanied by a rapid, vibratory, motion of the train- 

 feathers which produces sounds like the pattering of rain 

 on leaves. Then he stands before her, with bowed head, 

 as if to give her an opportunity of drinking in his splendour 

 to the full. Commonly, however, she appears to be 

 utterly indifferent, and either walks away or continues a 

 real, or affected hunt for food, as if no such thing as a 

 love-sick suitor were within a hundred miles of her ! But 

 sooner or later his suggestive attitudes beget an answering 

 response, and pairing takes place. 



The display of the beautiful Peacock Pheasant differs 

 conspicuously from that of the Peacock, and recalls that 

 of the Argus Pheasant. In the Peacock Pheasant, as 

 will be seen from the adjoining photograph, the wings, and 

 tail, are alike bedecked with ocelli. * The display is made 

 by the bird as it crouches close to the ground, with the 

 wings and tail raised to form a continuous, patterned 

 surface, the head being swiftly moved during the per- 

 formance ; hence its blurred outline in the photograph. 



The Argus Pheasant is an even more wonderful per- 

 former than the two preceding species. In this bird, it 

 should be remarked, the tail and the secondary wing- 

 feathers are enormously lengthened, the latter to an extent 

 met with in no other bird, showing that the struggle for 

 existence cannot be very severe with this species. For 



