DISPLAY BT THE MALE. 395 



as Mr. Bartlett informs me, tliat this is not the case with the 

 dull-colored Bared and Cheer pheasants (Crossoptilon auritum 

 and Phasianus wallichli) ; so that these birds seem conscious that 

 they have little beauty to display. Mr. Bartlett has never seen 

 the males of either of these species fighting together, though 

 he has not had such good opportunities for observing the Cheer 

 as the Bared pheasant. Mr. Jenner Weir, also, finds that all 

 male birds with rich or strongly-characterized plumage are more 

 quarrelsome than the dull-colored species belonging to the same 

 groups. The goldfinch, for instance, is far more pugnacious than 

 the linnet, and the blackbird than the thrush. Those birds which 

 undergo a seasonal change of plumage likewise become much 

 more pugnacious at the period when they are most gayly orna- 

 mented. No doubt the males of some obscurely-colored birds 

 fight desperately together, but it appears that when sexual selec- 

 tion has been highly influential, and has given bright colors to the 

 males of any species, it has also very often given a strong ten- 

 dency to pugnacity. We shall meet with nearly analogous cases 

 when we treat of mammals. On the other hand, with birds the 

 power of song and brilliant colors have rarely been both acquired 

 by the males of the same species; but in this case, the advantage 

 gained would have been the same, namely, success in charming 

 the female. Nevertheless it must be owned that the males of 

 several brilliantly colored birds have had their feathers specially 

 modified for the sake of producing instrumental music, though 

 the beauty of this cannot be compared, at least according to our 

 taste, with that of the vocal music of many songsters. 



We will now turn to male birds which are not ornamented in 

 any high degree, but which nevertheless display during their 

 courtship whatever attractions they may possess. These cases 

 are in some respects more curious than the foregoing, and have 

 been but little noticed. I owe the following facts to Mr. Weir, 

 who has long kept confined birds of many kinds, including all the 

 British Pringillidae and Bmberizidae. The facts have been selected 

 from a large body of valuable notes kindly sent me by him. The 

 bullfinch makes his advances in front of the female, and then 

 puffs out his breast, so that many more of the crimson feathers 

 are seen at once than otherwise would be the case. At the 

 same time he twists and bows his black tail from side to side in 

 a ludicrous manner. The male chaffinch also stands in front of 

 the female, thus showing his red breast and "blue bell," as the 

 fanciers call his head; the wings at the same time being slightly 

 expanded, with the pure white bands on the shoulders thus ren- 

 dered conspicuous. The common linnet distends his rosy breast, 

 slightly expands his brown wings and tail, so as to make the 

 best of them by exhibiting their white edgings. We must, how- 

 ever, be cautious in concluding that the wings are spread out 



