THE WOODPECKERS 49 



nest safely out of sight, and that is that the female 

 is nearly as gaily clad as her mate. You hardly 

 ever find brightly attired females nesting in ex- 

 posed situations; when the hen is adorned with 

 bright feathers you may be sure that she retires 

 into some dark hole for incubation take the 

 Kingfisher for example. The Green Woodpecker is 

 nearly as good an instance, the hen only differing 

 from her mate in having a black stripe, instead 

 of a black and crimson one, on the side of her 

 face. In the case fof the Greater Spotted 

 Woodpecker the female is not quite so gay as 

 the cock, for she lacks the scarlet patch at the 

 nape of the neck, but in general colouring she 

 is just as conspicuous. It might be suggested 

 that the trifling extra adornment of the male is 

 due to "sexual selection" that is, to the choice 

 by the hens, through countless generations, of 

 the handsomest cocks; but, if this is so, why is 

 it that the young birds in their first plumage 

 should be adorned with scarlet caps, and that 

 without reference to sex ? Indeed, the young 

 are far brighter and better looking than the adults, 

 affording us an example of juvenile plumage which 

 appears to be purely decorative. At any rate 

 we cannot imagine such colouring helps the young 

 birds to blend with their surroundings, or is in 

 any way protective, so, " protective resemblance " 

 being ruled out of court, we must try some other 

 theory. If the young bird was an unpalatable 

 morsel, or had any means of defence, we might 

 consider that it showed warning coloration, but 



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