ADAPTATION FOR THE SPECIES 13! 



These creatures are in the habit of resting in the day- 

 time against walls, or stones, or the bark of trees. 

 The similarity in color between their front wings, 

 which alone show while sitting, and the background 

 on which they rest, is most remarkable. One may 

 pass them again and again, although they are of con- 

 siderable size, and not notice them at all. Once let 

 them display their hind wings and the brilliancy of 

 their color always attracts immediate attention. 



It is among birds, however, that brilliant coloration 

 serves its most effective purpose. The birds are alert, 

 exceedingly quick of sight, and are much more dis- 

 criminating than insects in almost every respect. It 

 is not so impossible that these creatures might even 

 voluntarily prefer a distinctly more brilliant mate, 

 though the voluntary character of the process is not 

 essential to its success. Men certainly are constantly 

 attracted to women for whose charm it would puzzle 

 them to account. If this is true with regard to men, 

 it is certainly probable that birds would be largely in- 

 fluenced by phases of attractiveness, of which they 

 were observant, but unconscious. 



Certain it is that in many birds the males are far 

 more beautiful than the females. Perhaps the com- 

 monest illustration, and, at the same time, one of the 

 best is found in the so-called red-wing or swamp 

 blackbird. The male of this creature is a brilliant 



