114 SEXUAL DIMORPHISM 



are ornamented with ocelli, and both are erected in courtship. 

 This genus is remarkable for the possession of two spurs on 

 each leg in the male, and in the latter there is also a crest of 

 feathers on the head. 



Darwin himself mentions that the females of the several 

 species of Polyplectron exhibit in a dim condition, and chiefly 

 on the tail, the splendid ocelli of their mates. He cites this 

 fact in support of his view that the characters of female 

 birds are largely due to the greater or less transference to 

 them of the characters acquired by the males through sexual 

 selection. But the fact admits of another interpretation. 

 The female most probably represents the original condition 

 of the male, and in this case the increased development of 

 the wing and tail feathers in the male in consequence of their 

 erection and movement during sexual excitement, would 

 explain the elaboration and increased brilliance of the ocelli 

 as a concomitant of their greater size and more vigorous 

 growth. 



Darwin remarks that the eared and Cheer pheasants do 

 not display, as though conscious that they have little beauty 

 to show. In another place he states that both sexes of the 

 former species, Crossoptilon auritum, possess the fine caudal 

 plumes, the large ear- tufts, and the crimson velvet about the 

 head, and all these characters appear very early in life. It 

 is therefore evident that, whatever may be the explanation 

 of these characters, they are not secondary sexual characters, 

 and the fact that the males do not display is perfectly in 

 accord with my arguments. On the other hand, the adult 

 male possesses spurs, which he doubtless uses in fighting 

 when mature, and these do not begin to appear before the 

 age of six months. 



Mr. Ogilvie Grant * states, on the authority of Prjevalsky, 

 that in autumn and winter the birds of this species in their 



1 "Game Birds," Lloyd's Natural History, London, 1896. 



