610 THE DESCENT OF MAN. 



that they rarely or never display them excepting during the sea- 

 son of love. It is incredible that all this should be purposeless. 

 Lastly, we have distinct evidence with some quadrupeds and 

 birds, that the individuals of one sex are capable of feeling a 

 strong antipathy or preference for certain Individuals of the other 

 sex. 



Bearing in mind these facts, and the marked results of man's 

 unconscious selection, when applied to domesticated animals and 

 cultivated plants, it seems to me almost certain that if the in- 

 dividuals of one sex were during a long series of generations to 

 prefer pairing with certain individuals of the other sex, charac- 

 terized in some peculiar manner, the offspring would slowly but 

 surely become modified in this same manner. I have not at- 

 tempted to conceal that, excepting when the males are more 

 numerous than the females, or when polygamy prevails, it is 

 doubtful how the more attractive males succeed in leaving a 

 larger number of offspring to inherit their superiority in orna- 

 ments or other charms than the less attractive males; but I 

 have shown that this would probably follow from the females, — 

 especially the more vigorous ones, which would be the first to 

 breed, — preferring not only the more attractive but at the same 

 time the more vigorous and victorious males. 



Although we have some positive evidence that birds appre- 

 ciate bright and beautiful objects, as with the bower-birds of 

 Australia, and although they certainly appreciate the power of 

 song, yet I fully admit that it is astonishing that the females 

 of many birds and some mammals should be endowed with suf- 

 ficient taste to appreciate ornaments, which we have reason to 

 attribute to sexual selection; and this is even more astonishing 

 in the case of reptiles, fish, and insects. But we really know 

 little about the minds of the lower animals. It cannot be sup- 

 posed, for instance, that male birds of paradise or peacocks should 

 take such pains in erecting, spreading, and vibrating their beauti- 

 ful plumes before the females for no purpose. We should re- 

 member the fact given on excellent authority in a former chapter, 

 that several peahens, when debarred from an admired male, re- 

 mained widows during a whole season rather than pair with 

 another bird. 



Nevertheless I know of no fact in natural history more wonder- 

 ful than that the female Argus pheasant should appreciate the 

 exguisite shading of the ball-and-socket ornaments and the ele- 

 gant patterns on the wing-feathers of the male. He who thinks 

 that the male was created as he now exists must admit that 

 the great plumes, which prevent the wings from being used for 

 flight, and which are displayed during courtship and at no other 

 time in a manner quite peculiar to this one species, were given 

 to him as an ornament. If so, he must likewise admit that the 



