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Cocks have striking colors in their plumage-striking to us, at any rate- while hens only possess dull tints. But can hens see the colors of the cock as we can see them? Can a peahen, for instance, see the wonderful colors of the peacock? To answer this question we must know what colors a bird can actually see. This had been studied in the following manner. A lamp and prism are set up to throw a spectrum of rainbow colors on the floor of a dark room. On the different colors of the spectrum grains of corn are sprinkled, and then a hen is brought in. She pecks at the grains of corn and gobbles up all she can see. After a time the hen was moved and take note of what grains are left untouched by her. the hen has eaten nearly all the grains which were in the red, in the yellow, and in the green regions of the spectrum. She has taken a few of the grains in the blue light, but the hen leaves the grains in the violet untouched. This means that she cannot see the grains which are in the violet light, and she is not able to see those in the blue very well either, for she did not pick up many of them. So violet is just like black to the hen, and blue is not a very bright color.
Monkeys, on the other hand, are able to distinguish colors. They have been trained successfully to go for their meal to a cupboard, the door of which was painted in a certain color, and to ignore other available cupboards with differently colored doors, in which there was no food. Apart from monkeys and apes, however, most mammals seem to be color-blind, at any rate those which have been scientifically tested. Even bulls have been shown not to see red as a color. In spite of popular belief, they are not excited by red, and they cannot distinguish red from grey. No doubt any bright waving clothes excites a high spirited bull.
