A remarkable bird of South America, the bell-bird, has a peculiar note
that “can be distinguished at the distance of nearly three miles and
astonishes every one who hears it.... The male is pure white, whilst the
female is dusky-green; and white is a very rare color in terrestrial
species of moderate size and inoffensive habits. The male, also, as
described by Waterton, has a spiral tube, nearly three inches in length,
which rises from the base of the beak. It is jet-black, dotted over with
minute downy feathers. This tube can be inflated with air, through a
communication with the palate; and when not inflated hangs down on one
side. The genus consists of four species, the males of which are very
distinct, whilst the females, as described by Mr. Sclater in a very
interesting paper, closely resemble each other, thus offering an
excellent instance of the common rule that within the same group the
males differ much more from each other than do the females. In a second
species (_C. nudicollis_) the male is likewise snow-white, with the
exception of a large space of naked skin on the throat and round the
eyes, which during the breeding season is of a fine green color. In a
third species (_C. tricarunculatus_) the head and neck alone of the male
are white, the rest of the body being chestnut-brown, and the male of
this species is provided with three filamentous projections half as long
as the body—one rising from the base of the beak, and the two others
from the corners of the mouth.”
The most familiar case of sexual difference amongst North American birds
is that of the scarlet tanager, in which the male is scarlet with
jet-black wings, while the female is an inconspicuous yellow-green
color. Amongst domesticated animals the peafowl shows the most beautiful
case of sexual differences. The magnificent tail of the male can be
lifted up, so as to be seen to best advantage when the male faces the
observer. Moreover the wild form, living in the forests of India, has
the same gorgeous train.
The male Argus pheasant has a remarkable series of spots, or ocelli, on
the secondary wing-covers. They are concealed until the male displays
them before the female. Darwin states that, while it may seem incredible
that such elegant shading and exquisite patterns could have been the
outcome of the taste of the female, yet the extraordinary attitude
assumed by the male during courtship appears entirely purposeless,
unless it be supposed that he is attempting to charm the female by a
display of his ornamentation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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