- THE ARGUS PHEASANT. 137 
This appearance is even still more distinctly shown in a photograph of the expanded 
wings mounted as an ornamental screen by Mr. Edwin Ward, which is now 
before me. 
The mode in which these ocelli have been produced has been the subject of 
a very elaborate and ingenious disquisition by Mr. C. Darwin (‘ Descent of Man,’’ 
vol. ii., p. 141), to which I would refer those of my readers who desire to enter 
more deeply into the subject; but the following remarks on the characteristics of 
the feathers and their employment by the male are so graphic that I need make 
no apology for quoting them (vol. ii., p. 91) :— 
“The immensely-developed secondary wing feathers which are confined to the 
male, are ornamented with a row of from twenty to twenty-three ocelli, each above 
an inch in diameter. The feathers are also elegantly marked with oblique dark 
stripes and rows of spots, like those on the skin of a tiger and leopard combined. 
The ocelli are so beautifully shaded, that they stand out like a ball lying loosely 
within a socket. But when I leoked at the specimen in the British Museum, which 
is mounted with the wings expanded and trailing downwards, I was greatly disappointed, 
for the ocelli appeared flat or even concave. Mr. Gould, however, soon made the 
ease clear to me, for he had made a drawing of a male whilst he was displaying 
himself. At such times the long secondary feathers in both wings are vertically 
erected and expanded, and these, together with the enormously elongated tail feathers, 
make a grand semicircular upright fan. Now as soon as the wing feathers are held 
in this position, and the light shines on them from above, the full effect of the 
shading comes out, and each ocellus at once resembles the ornament called a ball 
and socket. These feathers have been shown to several artists, and all have 
expressed their admiration at the perfect shading. 
“The primary wing feathers, which in most gallinaceous birds are uniformly 
coloured, are in the Argus pheasant not less wonderful objects than the secondary 
wing feathers. They are of a soft brown tint with numerous dark spots, each of 
which consists of two or three black dots with a surrounding dark zone. But the 
chief ornament is a space parallel to the dark-blue shaft, which in outline forms a 
perfect second feather lying within the true feather. This inner part is coloured 
of a lighter chesnut, and is thickly dotted with minute white points. I have shown 
this feather to several persons, and many have admired it even more than the 
ball-and-socket feathers, and have declared that it was more like a work of art 
than of nature. Now these feathers are quite hidden on all ordinary occasions, but 
are fully displayed when the long secondary feathers are erected, though in a 
widely different manner; for they are expanded in front like two little fans or 
shields, one on each side of the breast near the ground. 
“The case of the male Argus pheasant is eminently interesting, because it 
affords good evidence that the most refined beauty may serve as a charm for the 
if 
