BIRDS' PLUMAGE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 143, 28 March 1928, Page 7

BIRDS' PLUMAGE.

GAY AND DULL DRESSES. Variation in plumage between male and female often interests students of bird life (says the "New York Times.") In many species, the colour is the same in both sexes. Again, the male bird possesses leathers of a gorgeous hue, while his mate wears a. dull dress. For instance, the scarlet tanager is beautiful in bright red and black, while his wife is arrayed in a dull olive green with dark wings' and tail. The rich blue of the male indigo bunting makes a marked contrast with the grayish brown of his mate, and the same is true of the rose-breasted grosbeak. The male is decked out in a livery of black, white, and rose red, while the female is quite ordinary in a suit of grayish brown.

There appear to be at least two reasons for this variation in colour in birds. The duller marking of the female is a wise* provision, of nature, protecting her against her natural enemies during that perilous period in which her families are. raised. Then again, the brighter plumage of the male proves to be a great asset in the days of courtship,' as birds have a peculiar appreciation of .the beautiful, and are attracted by it. Male birds in the mating season often perform love dances and engage in other peculiar antics, as, for- instance, the mad aerobatics of the chat, which are for the special amusement of the females: their effort being, as Darwin observed, to display their charms to their prospective wives.