120 
SEXUAL selection: birds. 
PaM 
“the hens have frequently great preference to a P a * 
“ ticular peacock. They were all so fond of an old p'" 
“ cock, that one year, when he was confined thoh-^ 
“ still in view, they were constantly assembled c 'l°; 
“ to the trel lice- walls of his prison, and would not 
“ a japanned peacock to touch them. On his being 
“ out in the autumn, the oldest of the hens install- 
“courted him, and was successful in her courts^' 
“ The next year ho was shut up in a stable, and ^ 
“the hens all courted his rival .” 25 This rival ' vaS " 
japanned or black-winged peacock, which to our 
is a more beautiful bird than the common kind. ^ 
Lichtenstein, who was a good observer and 
excellent opportunities of observation at the Op e 0 
Good Hope, assured Eudolphi that the female wid°"j 
bird ( Chera progne) disowns the male, when robbed 
the long tail-feathers with which he is ornamd'fo 
during the breeding-season. I presume that this 0 , 
serration must have been made on birds under c °'l, 
fmement.- b Here is another striking case ; Dr. Jaeg er '. 
director of the Zoological Gardens of Vienna, 
that a male silver-pheasant, who had been triumph 1 . 1 * 
over the other males and was the accepted lover oi t 
females, had his ornamental plumage spoiled. ^ ^ 
was then immediately superseded by a rival, who S° 
the Upper hand and afterwards led the flock. 
Not only does the female exert a choice, but in s 01 '! 
few cases she courts the male, or even fights for ^ 
possession. Sir R. Heron states that with peafowl, 
25 ‘ Troc. Zool. Son.’ 1S35, p. 51 Tie japanned peacock is 
sidered by Mr. Selater as a distinct species, and las been « ! 
Pavo nigripemiis. 
26 Eudolpiii ■ Beytrage zur Anthropologie,’ 1812, s. 184 
27 ‘Die Darwin’sole Theorie, and ilre Stellun- zu Moral 
Religion,’ 1869, s. 59. 
aid 
