48 THE BIRDS OF CALCUTTA. 



compared to their father. Their mother may be- 

 like them, if she is still a young thing, but only then. 

 For among the happy birds good looks do not 

 deteriorate with age, and in some cases the gentler sex 

 become much more beautiful with advancing years. 

 And this is one of them ; for the hen Orioles become 

 in course of time almost as brilliant as their mates, 

 merely showing a tinge of green at times in the yellow 

 — ^but the change in their case does not take place 

 so early in life. It is curious to see how Nature is 

 continually striving to bring the hen bird up to her 

 mate's level of beauty ; for the progressive increase 

 of beauty in the hen occurs in several groups, notably 

 in the hawks. This is quite a different thing from 

 the assumption of male plumage by hen birds which 

 by age or accident have become barren, such as often 

 occurs among hen pheasants ; and can only be 

 ascribed to a natural tendency on the part of the 

 species to progress in a given direction, the male 

 leading the way. 



This is well seen in our domestic birds. If we 

 ornament an unoffending bird, such as the Chinese 

 goose or the pigeon with a knob on its nose, we find 

 the male grows a bigger one. If, on the other hand, 

 Nature has been beforehand with us in bestowing 

 the decorations, such as the comb and wattles of the 

 fowl and the bare red face of the Muscovy duck, and 



