those on the peacock s train. Now when the peacock displays himself, he
expands and erects his tail transversely to his body, for he stands in
front of the female, and has to shew off, at the same time, his rich
blue throat and breast. But the breast of the Polyplectron is obscurely
coloured, and the ocelli are not confined to the tail-feathers.
Consequently the Polyplectron does not stand in front of the female;
but he erects and expands his tail-feathers a little obliquely,
lowering the expanded wing on the same side, and raising that on the
opposite side. In this attitude the ocelli over the whole body are
exposed at the same time before the eyes of the admiring female in one
grand bespangled expanse. To whichever side she may turn, the expanded
wings and the obliquely-held tail are turned towards her. The male
Tragopan pheasant acts in nearly the same manner, for he raises the
feathers of the body, though not the wing itself, on the side which is
opposite to the female, and which would otherwise be concealed, so that
nearly all the beautifully spotted feathers are exhibited at the same
time.
[Fig. 52. Side view of male Argus pheasant, whilst displaying before
the female. Observed and sketched from nature by T.W. Wood.]
The Argus pheasant affords a much more remarkable case. The immensely
developed secondary wing-feathers are confined to the male; and each is
ornamented with a row of from twenty to twenty-three ocelli, above an
inch in diameter. These feathers are also elegantly marked with oblique
stripes and rows of spots of a dark colour, like those on the skin of a
tiger and leopard combined. These beautiful ornaments are hidden until
the male shows himself off before the female. He then erects his tail,
and expands his wing-feathers into a great, almost upright, circular
fan or shield, which is carried in front of the body. The neck and head
are held on one side, so that they are concealed by the fan; but the
bird in order to see the female, before whom he is displaying himself,
sometimes pushes his head between two of the long wing-feathers (as Mr.
Bartlett has seen), and then presents a grotesque appearance. This must
be a frequent habit with the bird in a state of nature, for Mr.
Bartlett and his son on examining some perfect skins sent from the
East, found a place between two of the feathers which was much frayed,
as if the head had here frequently been pushed through. Mr. Wood thinks
that the male can also peep at the female on one side, beyond the
margin of the fan.
419