oup of the night-flying moths have been named the
"underwings," because of the fact that their hind wings are very much
more brilliant than the front, and in lighting they fold the dull pair
back over the bright, completely concealing them. These creatures are
in the habit of resting in the daytime against walls, or stones, or
the bark of trees. The similarity in color between their front wings,
which alone show while sitting, and the background on which they rest,
is most remarkable. One may pass them again and again, although they
are of considerable size, and not notice them at all. Once let them
display their hind wings and the brilliancy of their color always
attracts immediate attention.

It is among birds, however, that brilliant coloration serves its most
effective purpose. The birds are alert, exceedingly quick of sight,
and are much more discriminating than insects in almost every respect.
It is not so impossible that these creatures might even voluntarily
prefer a distinctly more brilliant mate, though the voluntary
character of the process is not essential to its success. Men
certainly are constantly attracted to women for whose charm it would
puzzle them to account. If this is true with regard to men, it is
certainly probable that birds would be largely influenced by phases of
attractiveness, of which they were observant, but unconscious.

Certain it is that in many birds the males are far more beautiful than
the females. Perhaps the commonest illustration, and, at the same
time, one of the best is found in the so-called red-wing or swamp
blackbird. The male of this creature is a brilliant black, excepting
that upon the angle of the wing, spoken of roughly as his shoulder,
though in reality it is equivalent to our wrist, there appears a
splendid orange patch with a border of lemon yellow. When he folds his
wing he pushes this colored angle of the wing so deftly under the
feathers of his shoulder as almost to conceal it. When in flight the
bird is exceedingly conspicuous, showing, with every bend and twist of
his body, his gorgeous epaulets. Meanwhile, the female is likely to
pass unnoticed. She is dull in color and streaked like the grass among
which she lives. During the mating season the male hovers about her,
swaying from side to side in such a way as certainly to make it appear
as if he realized his good points and was bringing them to bear as
effectively as he knew how. After his mate has nested and i