The Courtship of Animals

by W. P. Pycraft

So long as the continued increments in the development of these characters do not hamper their possessors in the struggle for existence, they are free to go on developing. Sexual selection, other things being equal, operates by according the greatest number of descendants to the most amorous, and not necessarily to those of the brightest hues.

Plate 27.

Photos copyright, G. Herring.

SOME STRANGE ACCOMPANIMENTS OF COURTSHIP.

THE WHITE-HEADED BELL-BIRD.

This species is remarkable for the enormous, erectile wattles which arise from the base of the beak of the male at the courting season.

THE UMBRELLA-BIRD.

The crest which adorns the crown of the head has many counterparts, but the long-feather clad wattle which depends from the fore-part of the breast is unique.