364 The Descent of Man. v'xwt II 



" creature." At such times the black-cocks are so absorbed that 

 they become almost blind and dea", but less so than the caper- 

 cailzie : hence bird after bird may be shot on the same spot, or 

 even caught by the hand. After performing these antics the 

 males begin to fight : and the same black-cock, in order to prove 

 his strength over several antagonists, will visit in the course of 

 one morning several Balz-places, which remain the same during 

 successive years." 



The peacock with his long train appears more like a dandy 

 than a warrior, but he sometimes engages in fierce contests : the 

 Rev. W. Darwin Fox informs me that at some little distance 

 from Chester two peacocks became so excited whilst fighting, 

 that they flew over the whole city, still engaged, until they 

 alighted on the top of St. John's tower. 



The spur, in those gallinaceous birds which are thus provided, 

 is generally single ; but Polypleotron (see fig. 51, p. 397} has two 

 or more on each leg; and one of the Blood- pheasants (^Ithaginis 

 cruentus) has been seen with five spurs. The spurs are generally 

 confined to the male, being represented by mere knobs or rudi- 

 ments in the female ; but the females of the Java peacock (Faro 

 miiticus) and, as I am informed by Mr. Blyth, of the small fire- 

 backed pheasant (Euplocamus erythropthalmus) possess spurs. 

 In Galloperdix it is usual for the males to have two spurs, and 

 for the females to have only one on each leg.'* Hence spurs may 

 be considered as a masculine structure, which has been occasion- 

 ally more or loss transferred to the females. Like most other 

 secondary sexual characters, the spurs are highly variable, both 

 in number and development, in the same species. 



Various birds have spurs on their wings. But the Egyptian 

 goose {C'henalopex cegyptiacus) has only " bare obtuse knobs," and 

 these probably shew us the first steps by which true spurs have 

 been developed in other species. In the spur-winged goose, 

 Pltctropierus yambensis, the males have much larger spurs than 

 the females; and they use them, as I am informed by Mr. 

 Bartlett, in fighting together, so that, in this case, the wing-spurs 

 serve as sexual weapons ; but according to Livingstone, they are 

 chiefly used in the defence of the young. The Palamedea 

 (fig. 88) is armed with a pair of spurs on each wing ; and these 

 are such formidable weapons, that a single blow has been known 

 to drive a dog howling away. But it does not a]5pear that the 

 spurs ill tliib case, or in that of some of the spur-winged rails, 



" Brehiii, ' Illust. Thieil.ben, Svifden,' in:., 1807, p. 79. 

 1867, Ij. ly. s. :i.'il. Sitme of the '^ Jerdon, 'Birds of India: on 



forcgoini; &t:itfmiiiit« :iie Uiken from Itliiigiuis, vol. iii. p. 523 ; 011 Gallo 



L Llo}d, 'Thu Giinie Birds of perdix, p. .M]. 



