great waste of strength and material by instituting a 

 temporary eclipse plumage. Why should we not ac- 

 cept this potent discrimination? 



The neck of the peacock is blue like the hue of some 

 skies, its train as green as the green of jungle foliage, 

 but when we study these birds in their haunts, we see 

 that no reliance is placed on such comparisons. The 

 peacock's one desire is to see its approaching enemy 

 first and to fly at once up to the most conspicuous bare 

 branch in view. If the bird itself does not trust to sky 

 and leaf, why attempt to explain the pigments thus? 



In studying pheasants in widely varying surround- 

 ings, birds in which sexual coloration reaches the anti- 

 theses of pigmentation, I was constantly impressed 

 with the proofs which the birds gave me of the relative 

 protective value of their garbs. Two conspicuous in- 

 stances were the impeyans of the Himalayas and the 

 white-tailed pheasants of Borneo. The young and 

 females of these birds are clad in drabs and browns. 

 The adults are brilliant. The ease of approach is nice- 

 ly decided by the color of the individual. When a 

 flock of impeyans is sighted, the iridescent cocks are 

 off like a shot ; the females may squat and linger until 

 there is no doubt of their having been observed. A 

 young white-tail which still belies his name by retain- 

 ing the brown tail of the first year, will allow one to 

 come much closer than a pheasant whch has acquired 

 the conspicuous tail of the old birds, even though its 

 body plumage be still wholly immature. Such habits 

 are of course wholly instinctive and unquestionably the 

 result of natural selection in past generations. But at 



