GRASSHOPPER-WARBLER 



such a supposition, be led to assume that colour was solely 

 dependent upon and inseparable from vigour; thus the 

 necessity for calling in such remote possibilities as aesthetic 

 sense and selection in explanation of the phenomenon would 

 be removed. 



Let us compare the courtship of the famous Argus 

 Pheasant with that of any of the dull-coloured Warblers, for 

 instance, Savi's Warbler {Locustella luscinioides) . Here we 

 have two cases, extreme as regards development of colour and 

 shading, yet analogous in all other respects. The Argus 

 Pheasant, when in presence of the female, spreads out and 

 raises its tail and wings, the ocelli on the latter being thereby 

 fully displayed ; Savi's Warbler also under similar circum- 

 stances spreads out his tail and wings, the latter being- 

 very slowly waved up and down. These actions are identical, 

 and evidently spring from the same cause, but no one can 

 say that Savi's Warbler, in thus performing, has any special 

 beauty to display. If, then, we say that the Argus Pheasant 

 is conscious of the ocelli, of what is Savi's Warbler conscious ? 

 Clearly we are no more justified in imputing consciousness 

 to the actions in the one case any more than we are in 

 those of the other. 



The courtship of birds presents many curious 

 features ; none more so than the spreading out of 

 the wings and tail, commonly known as display, but 

 these actions are not confined solely to courtship. 



I have described the males of the species under considera- 

 tion, both when playing with one another prior to the arrival 

 of the females, and when feeding their fully fledged young, 

 as behaving in an exactly similar manner. The male Chiff- 

 chaff, before the arrival of the female sometimes seems to be 

 seized with a sudden ecstasy. He spreads his tail and jerks 

 his wings, singing to himself quickly and quietly ; also when 

 a hawk approaches his breeding-quarters too closely he will 

 fly into the air, slowly flapping his wings, and hurriedly singing 

 in a similar manner to his courtship. I will give one other 



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