Color in Nature 



343 



There are yet other instances of striking color which are 

 not covered by any of the explanations which we have given 

 so far. Why should the males of many birds be so splendidly 

 attired that "even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 

 like one of these"; while the females must be satisfied with 

 a modest coat of drab or brown? The male scarlet tanager 

 in flashing livery of black and scarlet, the male of the rose- 

 breasted grosbeak with its breast of gorgeous rose, and the 

 saucy little male goldfinch in coat of black and yellow, are 



THE ANTELOPE 



Which carries a recognition mark upon its rump. A vanishing species 

 which once thronged our western plains. 



Courtesy of the National Zoological Park. , 



among the most striking and beautiful objects in nature; while 

 the females must be content with quiet colors, rendering them 

 wholly different in appearance from their mates. Once again 

 the Darwinian comes to rescue us from our dilemma with 

 his theory of sexual selection, which was proposed and ably 

 defended by Darwin himself in his "Origin of Species." 



"This form of selection depends, not on a struggle for 

 existence in relation to other organic beings or to external 

 conditions, but on a struggle between the individuals of one 

 sex, generally the males, for the possession of the other sex. 



