Heron has described how one pied peacock was extra attentive to the hens.
This is a subject which I must take up as soon as my present book is done.

I shall be most particularly obliged to you if you will dye with magenta a
pigeon or two. (428/2. "Mr. Tegetmeier, at my request, stained some of
his birds with magenta, but they were not much noticed by the others."--
"Descent of Man" (1901), page 637.) Would it not be better to dye the tail
alone and crown of head, so as not to make too great difference? I shall
be very curious to hear how an entirely crimson pigeon will be received by
the others as well as his mate.

P.S.--Perhaps the best experiment, for my purpose, would be to colour a
young unpaired male and turn him with other pigeons, and observe whether he
was longer or quicker than usual in mating.


LETTER 429. TO A.R. WALLACE.
Down, April 29th [1867].

I have been greatly interested by your letter, but your view is not new to
me. (429/1. We have not been able to find Mr. Wallace's letter to which
this is a reply. It evidently refers to Mr. Wallace's belief in the
paramount importance of protection in the evolution of colour. This is
clear from the P.S. to the present letter and from the passages in the
"Origin" referred to. The first reference, Edition IV., page 240, is as
follows: "We can sometimes plainly see the proximate cause of the
transmission of ornaments to the males alone; for a pea-hen with the long
tail of the male bird would be badly fitted to sit on her eggs, and a coal-
black female capercailzie would be far more conspicuous on her nest, and
more exposed to danger, than in her present modest attire." The passages