62 SEX 



have become secondarily the possession of 

 the female reindeer. It is difficult to decide 

 between these rival views. To explain the 

 possession of antlers by the female reindeer, 

 Cunningham refers to the fact that the 

 females use them as weapons and that the 

 older females often lead large herds of young 

 males and females. In cattle, sheep and goats, 

 the horns usually occur in both sexes; in 

 antelopes, they may be confined to the males, 

 as in kudu and saiga, but in most cases, e. g. 

 eland and oryx, they occur in both sexes ; 

 in the aberrant pronghorn of the Rockies the 

 horns are rudimentary in the female. The 

 long curved tusks of the wild boar, the ex- 

 aggerated tusks of the babirusa, the tusks of 

 the Indian elephant, the spur on the hind-leg 

 of the duckmole and the echidna are other 

 well-known masculine features. 



Among Birds sex-dimorphism reaches a 

 climax in the birds of Paradise, the humming- 

 birds, and the game-birds. In the males 

 it is common to find specially decorative 

 feathers which can be erected and displayed 

 to the best advantage. Every one knows the 

 magnificent tail feathers of the peacock, the 

 wing feathers of the Argus pheasant which 

 are raised to form a circular fan, the curved 

 outermost tail feathers of the blackcock, the 

 brilliant tufts and elongated tail feathers of 

 many humming-birds, the decorations of the 

 birds of Paradise, which baffle description, 

 the remarkable tail of the lyre-bird, and the 

 long neck feathers of the ruffs. 



Besides more decorative plumage the male 

 bird often exhibits other distinctive features. 



