98 
SEXUAL SELECTION : BIEDS. 
PiS* 1 
It is a more curious fact that the males of some hi 1 ' ^ 
which are provided with special weapons for battle, 
which in a state of nature are so pugnacious that tl )£ ’- 
often kill each other, suffer from possessing eert^ 
ornaments. Cock-fighters trim the hackles and cut 0 
the comb and gills of their cocks ; and the birds fl ' 
then said to be dubbed. An undubbed, bird, as , 
Tegetmeier insists, “is at a fearful disadvantage: 
“ comb and gills offer an easy hold to his adversatl ' 
“beak, and as a cock always strikes where he hoi 
“ when once he has seized his foe, he has him entir e *J 
“in his power. Even supposing that the bird is 
“ killed, the loss of blood suffered by an undubbed fO c 
“ is much greater than that sustained by one that J 1 ^ 
“ been trimmed.” 89 Young turkey-cocks in fight' 11 -' 
always seize hold of each other’s wattles ; and I l )rC " 
surne that the old birds fight in the same manner. 
If 
may perhaps be objected that the comb and wattles 
not ornamental, and cannot be of service to the b' 1 > 
in this way ; but even to our eyes, the beauty 
the glossy black Spanish cock is much enhanced by ( 
white face and crimson comb ; and no one who has 0 ^ 
seen the splendid blue wattles of the male Trag°l'. 
pheasant, when distended during the act of courtsH 
can for a moment doubt that beauty is the object g' 1 
From the foregoing facts we clearly see that the p 
lufl 
and other ornaments of the male must be of the In 
<rlk 
i i' 1 
importance to him; and we further see that beauty 
some cases is even more important than success in bar 
Birds,’ vol. xiv. p. 167. On Birds of Paradise, Lesson, quoted by t'Y jt 
‘ Thierleben,’ B. iii. s. 325. On the widow-bird, Barrow’s ‘ Tr»w ^ 
Africa,’ vol. i. p. 243, and ‘ Ibis,’ vol. iii. 1861, p. 133. Mr. Gcu 1 j. 
the shyness of male birds, ‘Handbook to Birds of Australia,’ v 
1865, p. 210, 457. 
33 Tegetmeier, 1 The Poultry Book,’ 1866, p. 139. 
