504 



THE DESCENT OF MAN. 



playing their tail-feathers; Mr. Belt,* after describing the 

 beauty of the Florisuga mellivora, says: " I have seen the 

 female sitting on a branch and two males displaying their 

 charms in front of her. One would shoot up like a rocket, 

 then, suddenly expanding the snow-white tail, like an 

 inverted parachute,, slowly descend in front of her, turning 

 round gradually to show off back and front. . . . The 

 expanded white tail covered more space than all the rest of 

 the bird, and was evidently the grand feature in the per- 

 formance. While one male was descending the other 

 would shoot up and come slowly down expanded. The 

 entertainment would end in a fight between the two per- 

 formers; but whether the most beautiful or the most pugna- 

 cious was the accepted suitor, I know not." Mr. Gould, 

 after describing the peculiar plumage of the Urosticte, 

 adds, "that ornament and variety is the sole object, I have 

 myself but little doubt, "f If this be admitted, we can per- 

 ceive that the males which during former times were 

 decked in the most elegant and novel manner would have 

 gained an advantage, not in the ordinary struggle for life, 

 but in rivalry with other males, and would have left a 

 larger number of offspring to inherit their newly acquired 

 beauty. 



*"Tlie Naturalist in Nicaragua," 1874, p. 112. 

 f "Introduction to the Trocliilidae," 1861, p. 110. 



