SEXUAL SELECTION 509 



the plumage of allied species is not surprising, for -with the 

 common linnet, which belongs to the same family, the crim- 

 son forehead and breast are displayed only during the sum- 

 mer in England, while in Madeira these colors are retained 

 throughout the year." 



Display by Male Birds of their Plumage. — Ornaments of 

 all kinds, whether permanently or temporarily gained, are 

 sedulously displayed by the males, and apparently serve to 

 excite, attract, or fascinate the females. But the males will 

 sometimes display their ornaments when not in the presence 

 of the females, as occasionally occurs with grouse at their 

 balz-places, and as may be noticed with the peacock; this 

 latter bird, however, evidently wishes for a spectator of 

 some kind, and, as I have often seen, will show o£E his 

 finery before poultry, or even pigs." All naturalists who 

 have closely attended to the habits of birds, whether in a 

 state of nature or under confinement, are unanimously of 

 opinion that the males take delight in displaying their 

 beauty. Audubon frequently speaks of the male as en- 

 deavoring in various ways to charm the female. Mr. 

 Gould, after describing some peculiarities in a male hum- 

 ming-bird, says he has no doubt that it has the' power of 

 displaying them to the greatest advantage before the female. 

 Dr. Jerdon" insists that the beautiful plumage of the male 

 serves "to fascinate and attract the female." Mr. Bartlett, 

 at the Zoological Gardens, expressed himself to me in the 

 strongest terms to the same effect. 



It must be a grand sight in the forests of India "to come 

 suddenly on twenty or thirty peafowl, the males displaying 

 their gorgeous trains, and strutting about in all the pomp of 



8* On the pelican, see Selater, in "Proc. Zoolog. Soo.," 1868, p. 265. On 

 the American finches, see Audubon, "Omith. Biography," vol. i. pp. 1T4, 221, 

 and Jerdon, "Birds of India," vol. ii. p. 383. On the FrmgiUa crnindbma of 

 Madeira, Mr. B. Vernon Harcourt, "Ibis," vol. v., 1863, p. 230. 



M See also "Ornamental Poultry," by Rev. B. S. Dixon, 1848, p. 8. 



e« "Birds of India," introduct. vol. i p. 24; on the peacock, vol. HL p, 60'!. 

 gee Gould's "Introduction to the Tiochilidee," 1861, pp. 15 and 111. 



