SHOWING WHITE FEATHERS 271 



is older than the decoration ; while the Mandarin 

 and Carolina Ducks, nearly allied as they are, 

 seem to have gone out of their way to display 

 differently, the former raising his crest as much 

 as possible, and throwing his head back and breast 

 out like a Fantail Pigeon, while the latter raises 

 his head and tail as if. he were being lifted up by 

 an invisible string attached to each end, and posi- 

 tively flattens down his crest as much as possible. 



This is a particularly interesting case, first 

 because the displays of other .twin species with 

 high decoration — the two Peafowl, the common 

 Turkey and the brilliant Honduras Turkey {Melea- 

 _gris ocellatd), and the Golden and Amherst Pheasants 

 — are almost exactly alike, and secondly because it 

 is very rare for a bird to reduce instead of dis- 

 playing a decorative feature, although a similar case 

 is found in the Bulbuls, which also depress their 

 handsome crests when courting, though they erect 

 them when alert, as does the Carolina drake also. 



It is very noticeable that whenever a bird has 

 any white about it, this is almost invariably the 

 main feature of the display, no matter what other 

 tolours are present ; this is well seen in the court- 

 ship of the Magpie and the Great Bustard, and 

 the peculiar gesture of the Carolina drake is well 

 adapted to show off his white throat, while the 

 crest-expansion of his ally may be connected with 

 the fact that he has much more white in his head- 

 dress. On the other hand, the rear-up of the 

 Bronze-Cap drake conceals his white throat, as he 



