138 



SEXUAL SELECTION: BIRDS. 



[Pakt II. 



It shoukl be i)articiilarly observed that each ocellus stands 

 in obvious connection with a dark stripe, or row of dark 

 spots, lor both occur indiflerently on the same feather. 

 Thus ill ViiT. 50 stripe A runs to ocellus a ; B inins to ocellus 

 h ; stripe C is broken in the upper part and runs do^\^l to 

 the next succeeding ocellus, not rejiresented in the wood- 

 cut ; D to the next lower one, and so with the stripes E and 



F. Lastly, the several ocelli 

 are separated from each oth- 

 er by a pale sui-f:ice bearing 

 irregular black marks. 



I will next describe 

 the other extreme of the 

 series, namely, the first 

 trace of an ocellus. The 

 short secondary wing- 

 feather (Fig. 57), nearest 

 to the body, is marked, 

 like the other feathers, 

 Avith oblique, longitudi- 

 \ --■' nal, rather irregular, rows 



of sjtots. The lowest spot, 

 or that nearest the shaft, 

 in the five lower rows (ex- 

 \ I eluding the basal row) is 



a little larger than the 



Fig. ."JT.— Baenl part of the Secondary , "^ . , 



winsi-fcatlicr, nearest to the body. OtiKT SpotS in the Same 



SO that the shading of the ball-and-socket ocelli ought to be slightly 

 different on the different feathers, in order to bring out their full effect, 

 relatively to the incidence of the light. Mr. T. W. Wood, who has the 

 c.Kperienced eye of an artist, asserts ('Field,' newspaper. May 28, 1870, 

 p. 4r)7) that this is the case ; but after carefully examining two mounted 

 specimens (the proper feathers from one having been given to me by Mr. 

 (Jould for more accurate comparison) I cannot perceive that this acme 

 of l)erfcction in the shading has been attained ; nor can others to whom 

 I have shown these feathers recognize the fact. 



