for the fact that this bird Hves in an environment where food 

 is abundant all the year round, and can be obtained without 

 any undue exertion, and that there are no serious enemies to 

 be evaded, it would long since have become extinct. For 

 this exuberant growth of quill-feathers must be borne aU the 

 year round, though they are not required to function in their 

 later r61e, save during the period of courtship. 



Their great length is not their only striking feature, or 

 even their chief feature. This, indeed, is represented by 

 their extraordinary coloration. For each feather bears along 

 its outer web a series of " ocelli," so coloured as to look hke a 

 series of dull gold balls lying within a deep cup. Outside 

 the ocelli run numerous pale yellow longitudinal stripes on a 

 nearly black background. The inner web is of a deUcate 

 greyish-brown hue, shading into white and relieved by in- 

 numerable black spots, while the tips of the quills have white 

 spots bordered with black. The primaries, too, are most 

 exquisitely coloured, though in the matter of size they are 

 not very exceptional. These, indeed, axe the only true 

 flight feathers. 



The full beauty and significance of the coloration of these 

 feathers can only be appreciated during periods of display. 

 Then the two wings, in some indescribable manner, are 

 opened out so as to form a huge circular screen, concealing 

 the whole of the rest of the body. The effect produced from 



66 



