| OCR Text |
Show 286 DARWINISM OHAJ'. tho females prefer certain males on account of the beauty of their plumage." Mr. Howitt was convinced "that tho foma.Io almost invariably prefers tho most vigorous, defiant, and mettlesome male;" and Mr. Tegetmeier, "that a gamecock, thouO'h disfiO'ured by boinO' dubbed, and with his h~tcld s b b b 1 .. trimmed, would be accepted as readily as a rna e rctanung all his natural ornarncnts." 1 Evidence is adduced thttt a female piO'eon will sometimes take an antipa.thy to a particular malo w~hout any assigrmblo cause; or, in other cases, will ta.kc :t strong fancy to some one bird, and will desert her own mato for him; but it is not stated that superiority or i11fcriority of plumage has a.nything to do with these fancies. Two instances arc indeed given, of male birds being rejected, wlrich had lost their ornamental plumage; but in both ca. c. (:t widow-finch and a silver pheasant) the long tail-plumes :trc tho indication of sexual matmity. Such cases do not snpporL the idea that males with the tail-feathers a trifle longer, or the colours a trifle brighter, arc generally preferred, a1Hl that those which arc only a little inferior arc as genemlly rcjccted,-and this is what is absolutely needed to establish the theory of the development of these plumes by means of tho choice of tho female. It will be seen, that female birds have unaccountable likes and dislikes in the matter of their partners, just as we ha.vc ourselves, and this may afford us an illustration. A young man, when courting, brushes or curls his hair, and ha. his moustache, board, or whiskers in perfect order, and no donht his sweetheart admires, them ; but this docs not prove th ;tt. she marries him on account of these ornaments, still less Lh: tt hair, beard, whiskers, and moustache were developed by tlre continued preferences of the female sex. So, a girl likes to seo her lover well and fashionably dressed, and ho always dresses as well as he can when he visits her ; but we cannot conclude from this that the whole series of male costumes, from tho brilliantly coloured, puffed, and slashed doublet and hose of the Elizabethan period, through the gorgeous coat:, long waistcoats, and pigtails of the early Georgian era, down to the funereal dress-suit of the present day, arc the direct result of female preference. In like manner, female birds may bo 1 Descent of Man, pp. 417, 418, 420. x COLOURS AND ORNAMENTS CIIAR.AC'fERISTIC OF SEX 287 charmed or cxcit?d by the fino display of plumage by tho ~ales; b~t thoro 1s no proof whatever that slight difl'crcnccs m that d1splay have any effect in determining their choice of a partner. Display of Deco'rative Plumage. !he extraordinary ~anncr in which most birds display thou· plumage at tho t1mo of court hip, apparently with the fnll knowledge that it is hc:mtifnl, con:titutos one of Mr. Dar~in's str?ngcst arguments. It is, 110 doubt, a very curious and mtcrcst111g phenomenon, and indicates a connection between tho exertion of particular muscles and the develop~ ent of colour and ornament; but, for the reasons just given, 1t docs not prove th~t the ~rnam cnt has been developed hy female chmcc. Dunng excitement, and when the orga.nism develops sup~rabm1~ant ~ncrgy, many animals find it plea ·urablc to exercise thmr vanons mu clcs, often in fantastic ways as seen in the gambols of kiLtens, Jambs, and other youn~ animals. Bnt at tho time of pairing, male birds arc in ~ state of tho most perfect clovclopmcnt, and possess an enormous store of vitality ; and under tho excitement of the sexual passion they perform strange antics or rapid fl.iO'hts as much probably from an intcmal impulse to motion and o~cr~ion as with any desire to please their mates. Such arc the rapid descent of tho snipe, the soaring and singing of the lark, and the d~nccs of the cock-of-tho-rock and of many other birds. It IS very suggestive that similar strange movements arc perf~rmed by many birds which httvc 110 ornamental plumage to disp1.ay. Goats_uckcrs, geese, carrion vultures, and many other bu·ds of plam plumage have hecn ob crved to dance ~prcad their _wings or tails, and perform strange love-antics: Tho courtship o~ the great albatross, a most unwieldy aml dull coloured bird, has been thus described by Professor Moseley: "Tho male, standing by the female on the nc. t raises h~s wings,. sp~eads his_ tail and elevates it, throws up hi~ head w1th tho bill m tho a1r, or stretches it straiO'ht out or forwards, a~ f~r as he can, and then utters a curious ~ry."l Mr. Jenner W mr mforms me that " tho malo blackbird is full of action, spreads out his glossy wing and tail, turns his rich golden 1 Notes of a Naturalist on the Challenger. |
