COLOUR AND NIDIFICATION. 
171 
V 
xv. 
St 
0f th e 
poking to the birds of the world, a large majority 
c 0 | 0 ' e s Pecies in which tlio females are conspicuously 
ii f( . (and in this case the males with rare exceptions 
-h] ; % conspicuous), build concealed nests for the 
1 protection. Mr. Wallace enumerates 18 a long 
O 0[ 
S*of‘ 
Vj]j ' ut groups in which this rule holds good ; but it 
,n UHlCe her « to give, as instances, the more familiar 
kt 
>of 
kingfishers, toucans, trogous, puff-birds (Capi- 
UJJ-jj 1 lit 
Pat t S’ PSn tain-eaters (Musoplmgse), woodpeckers, and 
° ts - Mr. Wallace believes that in these groups, 
‘the 
tiijjj ' ^ales gradually acquired through sexual selec- 
ts ^ eir brilliant colours, these were transferred to 
hit] '"'"(des and were not eliminated by natural selec- 
to the protection which they already enjoyed 
S\ v \. eir manner of nidification. 
if ot 6 
According to this 
^ Sr present manner of nesting was acquired 
their present colours. But it seems to me 
Bl0l ' e probable that in most cases as the females 
{^gradually rendered more and more brilliant from 
% j of the colours of the male, they were gradu- 
°>ioj ' , to change their instincts (supposing that they 
built open nests), and to seek protection by 
to f , 
domed or concealed nests. No one who studies, 
Vr C6 ’ Audubon’s account of the differences in the 
VteJ u ^ e same species in the Northern and Southern 
V, t | States , 19 will feel any great difficulty in adrnit- 
birds, either by a cliauge (in the strict sense 
S e y w ord) of their habits, or through the natural 
variations of 
% c t M so-called spontaneous 
m- 
readily be led to modify their manner of 
S i, 11111 of Travel/ edited by A. Murray, vol. i. p. 78. 
t, tl > 
Si, 
l' ! ei H'ic' lU ^ sla * ,el «euts in the ‘ Ornithological Biography.’ See, also, 
Si,j n 'j“ observations on tlie nests of Italian birds by Eugenio 
‘ Atti della Socicta Italiftna,’ vol. xi. 18G9, p. 487. 
