The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex Volume II Part 19

[202] Bechstein, 'Naturgesch. Deutschlands,' 1793, B. iii. s.

339.

[203] Daines Barrington, however, thought it probable ('Phil.

Transact.' 1773, p. 164) that few female birds sing, because the talent would have been dangerous to them during incubation.

He adds, that a similar view may possibly account for the inferiority of the female to the male in plumage.

[204] Mr. Ramsay, in 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc.' 1868, p. 50.

[205] 'Journal of Travel,' edited by A. Murray, vol. i. 1868, p. 78.

[206] 'Journal of Travel,' edited by A. Murray, vol. i. 1868, p. 281.

[207] Audubon, 'Ornithological Biography,' vol. i. p. 233.

[208] Jerdon, 'Birds of India,' vol. ii. p. 108. Gould's 'Handbook of the Birds of Australia,' vol. i. p. 463.

[209] For instance, the female _Eupetomena macroura_ has the head and tail dark blue with reddish loins; the female _Lamp.o.r.nis porphyrurus_ is blackish-green on the upper surface, with the lores and sides of the throat crimson; the female _Eulampis jugularis_ has the top of the head and back green, but the loins and the tail are crimson. Many other instances of highly conspicuous females could be given. See Mr. Gould's magnificent work on this family.

[210] Mr. Salvin noticed in Guatemala ('Ibis,' 1864, p. 375) that humming-birds were much more unwilling to leave their nests during very hot weather, when the sun was s.h.i.+ning brightly, than during cool, cloudy, or rainy weather.

[211] I may specify, as instances of obscurely-coloured birds building concealed nests, the species belonging to eight Australian genera, described in Gould's 'Handbook of the Birds of Australia,' vol. i. p. 340, 362, 365, 383, 387, 389, 391, 414.

[212] Jerdon, 'Birds of India,' vol. i. p. 244.

[213] On the nidification and colours of these latter species, see Gould's 'Handbook,' &c., vol. i. p. 504, 527.

[214] I have consulted, on this subject, Macgillivray's 'British Birds,' and though doubts may be entertained in some cases in regard to the degree of concealment of the nest, and of the degree of conspicuousness of the female, yet the following birds, which all lay their eggs in holes or in domed nests, can hardly be considered, according to the above standard, as conspicuous: Pa.s.ser, 2 species; Sturnus, of which the female is considerably less brilliant than the male; Cinclus; Motacilla boarula (?); Erithacus (?); Fruticola, 2 sp.; Saxicola; Ruticilla, 2 sp.; Sylvia, 3 sp.; Parus, 3 sp.; Mecistura; Anorthura; Certhia; Sitta; Yunx; Muscicapa, 2 sp.; Hirundo, 3 sp.; and Cypselus. The females of the following 12 birds may be considered as conspicuous according to the same standard, viz., Pastor, Motacilla alba, Parus major and P.

caeruleus, Upupa, Picus, 4 sp., Coracias, Alcedo, and Merops.

[215] 'Journal of Travel,' edited by A. Murray, vol. i. p. 78.

[216] See many statements in the 'Ornithological Biography.'

See, also, some curious observations on the nests of Italian birds by Eugenio Bettoni, in the 'Atti della Societa Italiana,'

vol. xi. 1869, p. 487.

[217] See his 'Monograph of the Trogonidae,' first edition.

[218] Namely Cya.n.a.lcyon. Gould's 'Handbook of the Birds of Australia,' vol. i. p. 133; see, also, p. 130, 136.

[219] Every gradation of difference between the s.e.xes may be followed in the parrots of Australia. See Gould's 'Handbook,'

&c., vol. ii. p. 14-102.

[220] Macgillivray's 'British Birds,' vol. ii. p. 433. Jerdon, 'Birds of India,' vol. ii. p. 282.

[221] All the following facts are taken from M. Malherbe's magnificent 'Monographie des Picidees,' 1861.

[222] Audubon's 'Ornithological Biography,' vol. ii. p. 75; see also the 'Ibis,' vol. i. p. 268.

[223] Gould's 'Handbook of the Birds of Australia,' vol. ii. p.

109-149.

[224] See remarks to this effect in my work on 'Variation under Domestication,' vol. ii. chap, xii.

[225] The 'Ibis,' vol. vi. 1864, p. 122.

[226] On Ardetta, Translation of Cuvier's 'Regne Animal,' by Mr. Blyth, footnote, p. 159. On the Peregrine Falcon, Mr.

Blyth, in Charlesworth's 'Mag. of Nat. Hist.' vol. i. 1837, p.

304. On Dicrurus, 'Ibis,' 1863, p. 44. On the Platalea, 'Ibis,'

vol. vi. 1864, p. 366. On the Bombycilla, Audubon's 'Ornitholog. Biography,' vol. i. p. 229. On the Palaeornis, see, also, Jerdon, 'Birds of India,' vol. i. p. 263. On the wild turkey, Audubon, ibid. vol. i. p. 15: I hear from Judge Caton that in Illinois the female very rarely acquires a tuft.

[227] Mr. Blyth has recorded (Translation of Cuvier's 'Regne Animal,' p. 158) various instances with Lanius, Ruticilla, Linaria, and Anas. Audubon has also recorded a similar case ('Ornith. Biog.' vol. v. p. 519) with _Tyranga aestiva_.

[228] See Gould's 'Birds of Great Britain.'

[229] In regard to thrushes, shrikes, and woodp.e.c.k.e.rs, see Mr.

Blyth, in Charlesworth's 'Mag. of Nat. Hist.' vol. i. 1837, p.

304; also footnote to his translation of Cuvier's 'Regne Animal,' p. 159. I give the case of Loxia from Mr. Blyth's information. On thrushes, see also Audubon, 'Ornith.

Biography,' vol. ii. p. 195. On Chrysococcyx and Chalcophaps, Blyth, as quoted in Jerdon's 'Birds of India,' vol. iii. p.

485. On Sarkidiornis, Blyth, in 'Ibis,' 1867, p. 175.

[230] See, for instance, Mr. Gould's account ('Handbook of the Birds of Australia,' vol. i. p. 133) of Cya.n.a.lcyon (one of the Kingfishers) in which, however, the young male, though resembling the adult female, is less brilliantly coloured. In some species of Dacelo the males have blue tails, and the females brown ones; and Mr. R. B. Sharpe informs me that the tail of the young male of _D. Gaudichaudi_ is at first brown.

Mr. Gould has described (ibid. vol. ii. p. 14, 20, 37) the s.e.xes and the young of certain Black c.o.c.katoos and of the King Lory, with which the same rule prevails. Also Jerdon ('Birds of India,' vol. i. p. 260) on the _Palaeornis rosa_, in which the young are more like the female than the male. See Audubon ('Ornith. Biograph.' vol. ii. p. 475) on the two s.e.xes and the young of _Columba pa.s.serina_.

[231] I owe this information to Mr. Gould who shewed me the specimens; see also his 'Introduction to the Trochilidae,' 1861, p. 120.

[232] Macgillivray, 'Hist. Brit. Birds,' vol. v. p. 207-214.

[233] See his admirable paper in the 'Journal of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal,' vol. xix. 1850, p. 223; see also Jerdon, 'Birds of India,' vol. i. introduction, p. xxix. In regard to Tanysiptera, Prof. Schlegel told Mr. Blyth that he could distinguish several distinct races, solely by comparing the adult males.

[234] See also Mr. Swinhoe, in 'Ibis,' July, 1863, p. 131; and a previous paper, with an extract from a note by Mr. Blyth, in 'Ibis,' Jan. 1861, p. 52.

[235] Wallace, 'The Malay Archipelago,' vol. ii. 1869, p. 394.

[236] These species are described, with coloured figures, by M.

F. Pollen, in 'Ibis,' 1866, p. 275.

[237] 'Variation of Animals, &c., under Domestication,' vol. i.

p. 251.

[238] Macgillivray, 'Hist. British Birds,' vol. i. p. 172-174.

[239] See, on this subject, chap. xxiii. in the 'Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication.'

[240] Audubon, 'Ornith. Biography,' vol. i. p. 193.

Macgillivray, 'Hist. Brit. Birds,' vol. iii. p. 85. See also the case before given of _Indopicus carlotta_.

[241] 'Westminster Review,' July, 1867, and A. Murray, 'Journal of Travel,' 1868, p. 83.