COURTING OF THE TRAGOPAN (Ceriornis satyrus) 



Among highly organized groups of animals the male is commonly 

 more beautiful than his partner, and the matrimonial chances of 

 the former are supposed to be often proportionate to his decorative 

 endowments. According to this view the aesthetic taste of females 

 has had an important influence in the evolution of male adorn- 

 ments. The Horned Pheasant (Ceriornis satyrus} or Tragopan of 

 Northern India, which is one of a small group of extremely hand- 

 some species, affords a good illustration of the striking difference 

 in appearance which often distinguishes the sexes. As will be 

 gathered from the plate, the hen-bird (in the foreground) is com- 

 parativejy dowdy, but the cock possesses adornments of no common 

 order, which he is represented as fully displaying with a view of 

 securing the favour of a desired partner. His ornaments include a 

 couple of blue outgrowths on the head, which can be made to stick 

 up like horns, and a pair of brilliantly coloured wattles capable of 

 inflation to form a sort of horseshoe-shaped collar. Details of the 

 colour-scheme and of the love-antix:s are given in the text. 



