BIRDS. 451 



his rich blue throat and breast. But the breast of the Poly- 

 plectron is obscurely colored, and the ocelli are not con- 

 fined to the tail-feathers. Consequently the Polyplectron 

 does not stand in front of the female; but he erects and 

 expands his tail-feathers a little obliquely, lowering the ex- 

 panded wing on the same side and raising that on the 

 opposite side. In this attitude the ocelli over the whole 

 body are exposed at the same time before the eyes of the 

 admiring female in one grand bespangled expanse. To 

 whichever side she may turn the expanded wings and the 

 obliquely-held tail are turned toward her. The male Trag- 

 opan pheasant acts in nearly the same manner, for he raises 

 the feathers of the body, though not the wing itself, on the 

 side which is opposite to the female, and which would 

 otherwise be concealed, so that nearly all the beautifully 

 spotted feathers are exhibited at the same time. 



The Argus pheasant affords a much more remarkable 

 case. The immensely developed secondary wing-feathers 

 are confined 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 color, like those 

 on the skin of a tiger and leopard combined. These beau- 

 tiful 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 (as Mr. Bartlett has 

 seen), and then presents a grotesque appearance. This 

 must be a frequent habit with the bird in a state of nature, 

 for Mr. Bartlett and his son, on examining some perfect 

 skins sent from the east, found a place between two of the 

 feathers which was much frayed, as if the head had here 

 frequently been pushed through. Mr. Wood thinks that 

 the male can also peep at the female on one side beyond the 

 margin of the fan. 



The ocelli on the wing-feathers are wonderful objects, 

 for they are so shaded that, as the Duke of Argyll remarks,* 



* * The Reign of Law," 1867, p. 208. 



