'•Up 
XIV. 
GRADATION OF CHARACTERS. 
151 
Co]o 
apparently became less bright ; and then the 
itn^^tation of the plumes had to be gained by 
p f( j ( !'° Ver neuts in the pattern aud shading ; and this 
a tl( | tSs ^ ,a s been carried on until the wouderlul ball- 
e an s ° c ket ocelli have been finally developed. Thus we 
Understand — and in no other way as it seems to 
on y present condition and origin of the ornaments 
16 'ring-feathers of the Argus pheasant. 
p 
^i* 0 ' 1 ' the light reflected by the principle of grada- 
fr (lli 11 ’ from what we know of the laws of variation ; 
of 1 fhe changes which have taken place in many 
iiilt 
d; 
VVUitn “U.IVJ jy - j 
r domesticated birds; and, lastly, from the cha- 
01 (as we shall hereafter more clearly see) of the 
ku] 
Mature 
_ plumage of young birds — we can sometimes 
b abj Cate " ith a certain amount of confidence, the pro- 
bri |l? 8t eps by which the males have acquired their 
plumage and various ornaments; yet in many 
are involved in darkness. Mr. Gould several 
■$e s 
jr> 
ago 
pointed out to mo a humming-bird, 
the 
fe tpv lcte benjamini, remarkable from the curious dif- 
v J 
presented by the two sexes. The male, besides 
dd gorget, has greenish-black tail-feathers, with 
Wit!* 1 cenira l ones tipped with white ; in the female, 
o at l ie 1 >nost of the allied species, the three outer tail- 
Ha.n'i 1 ’ 8 °n each side are tipped with white, so that the 
t|JSUd 
X 1 tuv 7 
four central, whilst the female has the six 
What 
Jeiw /? ... 
kaljp^ ai weathers ornamented with white tips. 
0f th e . case cu ri ous is that, although the colouring 
titiff s do 1 differs remarkably in both sexes of many 
dmmming-birds, Mr. Gould does not know a 
bfio ‘ s P e cies, besides the Urosticte, in which the male 
le *°ur central feathers tipped with white. 
e of Argyll, in commenting on this case, 49 
The Ifuk 
49 1 Tlio Reign of Law,' 1807, p. 247. 
