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The Descent of Man

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hers <strong>of</strong> this kind occur in the tail <strong>of</strong> a motmot<br />

(Eumomota superciliaris), <strong>of</strong> a king-fisher,<br />

finch, humming-bird, parrot, several Indian<br />

drongos (Dicrurus and Edolius, in one <strong>of</strong> which<br />

the disc stands vertically), and in the tail <strong>of</strong> certain<br />

birds <strong>of</strong> paradise. In these latter birds, similar<br />

feathers, beautifully ocellated, ornament the<br />

head, as is likewise the case with some gallinaceous<br />

birds. In an Indian bustard (Sypheotides<br />

auritus) the feathers forming the ear- tufts,<br />

which are about four inches in length, also terminate<br />

in discs. (69. Jerdon, 'Birds <strong>of</strong> India,' vol.<br />

iii. p. 620.) It is a most singular fact that the<br />

motmots, as Mr. Salvin has clearly shewn (70.<br />

'Proceedings, Zoological Society,' 1873, p. 429.),<br />

give to their tail feathers the racket-shape by<br />

biting <strong>of</strong>f the barbs, and, further, that this continued<br />

mutilation has produced a certain<br />

amount <strong>of</strong> inherited effect.<br />

[Fig. 47. Paradisea Papuana (T.W. Wood).]

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