168 
SEXUAL SELECTION : BIRDS. 
PA*** 
nacious and could defend themselves ; that those 
of* 
second group take extreme care in concealing 1 ‘ r 
open nests, but this does not invariably hold g° 0< Ll 
and that with the birds of the third group the 
are brightly coloured chiefly on the under surface. ^ 
sides these cases the whole great family of p 1 '® 60 ,, 
which are sometimes brightly, and almost always c - 
spicuously coloured, and which are notoriously 1^%, 
the attacks of birds of prey, offers a serious excel'^j 
yd 
in' 1 ' 
¥ 
to the rule, for pigeons almost always build open 
exposed nests. In another large family, that 
of 
Humming-birds, all the species build open nests? 
with some of the most gorgeous species the sexeS ^ 
alike ; and in the majority, the females, though ^ 
brilliant than the males, are very brightly colo u „ 
Nor can it be maintained that all female hum 11 ’ ^ 
birds, which are brightly coloured, escape detect) 011 , 
their tints being green, for some display on their ufl 
surfaces red, blue, and otlicr colours. 12 A 
str* 8 
In regard to birds which build in holes or cons 
3 r) ' 
i' 
besides concealment are gained, such as shelter 1 
domed nests, other advantages, as Mr. Wallace 
the rain, greater warmth, and in hot countries ] l)0 
tion from the rays of the sun ; 13 so that it is no 
.Hanl ' 501 
io!>" 
i 
11 Jordon, ‘Birds of India,’ vol. ii. p. 108. Gould’s 1 
tlie Birds of Australia/ vol. i. p. 463. ^ 
1 - For instance, the female Eupefomena mocrouta has the lll j (id 
tail dark blue with reddish loins ; the female Lampornis p or r IJ g { i‘‘j 
is blackish-green on the upper surface, with the lores and aid' * tfP 
throat crimson ; the female h 'ulampis jugulctris has the top 1 , P 1 ' 
ami hack green, hut the loins and the tail are crimson. At ;i 1 \ ^ 
instances ot highly conspicuous females eonld he given. Sec M r - 
magnificent work on this family. . jpjfl 1 ' 
** Mr. Salvin noticed in Guatemala (‘Ibis,’ 1864, p. 375) ***,, v i'<j 
ming-birds were much more unwilling to leave their nests ° 
liot weather, when the sun was shining brightly, than du> lflo 
cloudy, or rainy weather. 
