He states that the hens have frequently great preference to a
particular peafowl. They were all so fond of an old pied cock, that one
year, when he was confined, though still in view, they were constantly
assembled close to the trellice-walls of his prison, and would not
suffer a japanned peacock to touch them. On his being let out in the
autumn, the oldest of the hens instantly courted him and was successful
in her courtship. The next year he was shut up in a stable, and then
the hens all courted his rival. (26. Proceedings, Zoological
Society, 1835, p. 54. The japanned peacock is considered by Mr.
Sclater as a distinct species, and has been named Pavo nigripennis; but
the evidence seems to me to show that it is only a variety.) This rival
was a japanned or black-winged peacock, to our eyes a more beautiful
bird than the common kind.
Lichtenstein, who was a good observer and had excellent opportunities
of observation at the Cape of Good Hope, assured Rudolphi that the
female widow-bird (Chera progne) disowns the male when robbed of the
long tail-feathers with which he is ornamented during the
breeding-season. I presume that this observation must have been made on
birds under confinement. (27. Rudolphi, Beitrage zur Anthropologie,
1812, s. 184.) Here is an analogous case; Dr. Jaeger (28. Die
Darwin sche Theorie, und ihre Stellung zu Moral und Religion, 1869, s.
59.), director of the Zoological Gardens of Vienna, states that a male
silver-pheasant, who had been triumphant over all other males and was
the accepted lover of the females, had his ornamental plumage spoiled.
He was then immediately superseded by a rival, who got the upper hand
and afterwards led the flock.
It is a remarkable fact, as shewing how important colour is in the
courtship of birds, that Mr. Boardman, a well-known collector and
observer of birds for many years in the Northern United States, has
never in his large experience seen an albino paired with another bird;
yet he has had opportunities of observing many albinos belonging to
several species. (29. This statement is given by Mr. A. Leith Adams, in
his Field and Forest Rambles, 1873, p. 76, and accords with his own
experience.) It can hardly be maintained that albinos in a state of
nature are incapable of breeding, as they can be raised with the
greatest facility under confinement. It appears, therefore, that we
must attribute the fact that they do not pair to their rejection by
their normally coloured comrades.
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