Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Charles Darwin

CHAPTER XIV.

Chapter 6452 wordsPublic domain

viBirds—continued Choice exerted by the female—Length of courtship—Unpaired birds—Mental qualities and taste for the beautiful—Preference or antipathy shewn by the female for particular males—Variability of birds—Variations sometimes abrupt—Laws of variation—Formation of ocelli—Gradations of character—Case of Peacock, Argus pheasant, and Urosticte 99-153