The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex Volume II Part 21

[282] On Larus, Gavia, and Sterna, see Macgillivray, 'Hist.

Brit. Birds,' vol. v. p. 515, 584, 626. On the Anser hyperboreus, Audubon, 'Ornith. Biography,' vol. iv. p. 562. On the Anastomus, Mr. Blyth, in 'Ibis,' 1867, p. 173.

[283] It may be noticed that with vultures, which roam far and wide through the higher regions of the atmosphere, like marine birds over the ocean, three or four species are almost wholly or largely white, and many other species are black. This fact supports the conjecture that these conspicuous colours may aid the s.e.xes in finding each other during the breeding-season.

[284] 'The Journal of Travel,' edited by A. Murray, vol. i.

1868, p. 286.

[285] See Jerdon on the genus Palaeornis, 'Birds of India,' vol.

i. p. 258-260.

[286] The young of _Ardea rufescens_ and _A. caerulea_ of the U. States are likewise white, the adults being coloured in accordance with their specific names. Audubon ('Ornith.

Biography,' vol. iii. p. 416; vol. iv. p. 58) seems rather pleased at the thought that this remarkable change of plumage will greatly "disconcert the systematists."

[287] I am greatly indebted to the kindness of Mr. Sclater for having looked over these four chapters on birds, and the two following ones on mammals. By this means I have been saved from making mistakes about the names of the species, and from giving any facts which are actually known to this distinguished naturalist to be erroneous. But of course he is not at all answerable for the accuracy of the statements quoted by me from various authorities.

[288] See Waterton's account of two hares fighting, 'Zoologist,' vol. i. 1843, p. 211. On moles, Bell, 'Hist. of British Quadrupeds,' 1st edit. p. 100. On squirrels, Audubon and Bachman, 'Viviparous Quadrupeds of N. America,' 1846, p.

269. On beavers, Mr. A. H. Green, in 'Journal of Lin. Soc.

Zoolog.' vol. x. 1869, p. 362.

[289] On the battles of seals, see Capt. C. Abbott in 'Proc.

Zool. Soc.' 1868, p. 191; also Mr. R. Brown, ibid. 1869, p.

436; also L. Lloyd, 'Game Birds of Sweden,' 1867, p. 412; also Pennant. On the sperm-whale, see Mr. J. H. Thompson, in 'Proc.

Zool. Soc.' 1867, p. 246.

[290] See Scrope ('Art of Deer-stalking,' p. 17) on the locking of the horns with the Cervus elephas. Richardson, in 'Fauna Bor. Americana,' 1829, p. 252, says that the wapiti, moose, and reindeer have been found thus locked together. Sir A. Smith found at the Cape of Good Hope the skeletons of two gnus in the same condition.

[291] Mr. Lamont ('Seasons with the Sea-Horses,' 1861, p. 143) says that a good tusk of the male walrus weighs 4 pounds, and is longer than that of the female, which weighs about 3 pounds.

The males are described as fighting ferociously. On the occasional absence of the tusks in the female, see Mr. R.

Brown, 'Proc. Zool. Soc.' 1868, p. 429.

[292] Owen, 'Anatomy of Vertebrates,' vol. iii. p. 283.

[293] Mr. R. Brown, in 'Proc. Zool. Soc.' 1869, p. 553.

[294] Owen on the Cachalot and Ornithorhynchus, ibid. vol. iii.

p. 638, 641.

[295] On the structure and shedding of the horns of the reindeer, Hoffberg, 'Amnitates Acad.' vol. iv. 1788, p.

149. See Richardson, 'Fauna Bor. Americana,' p. 241, in regard to the American variety or species; also Major W. Ross King, 'The Sportsman in Canada,' 1866, p. 80.

[296] Isidore Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, 'Essais de Zoolog.

Generale,' 1841 p. 513. Other masculine characters, besides the horns, are sometimes similarly transferred to the female; thus Mr. b.o.n.e.r, in speaking of an old female chamois ('Chamois Hunting in the Mountains of Bavaria,' 1860, 2nd edit. p. 363), says, "not only was the head very male-looking, but along the back there was a ridge of long hair, usually to be found only in bucks."

[297] On the Cervulus, Dr. Gray, 'Catalogue of the Mammalia in British Museum,' part iii. p. 220. On the _Cervus Canadensis_ or Wapiti see Hon. J. D. Caton, 'Ottawa Acad. of Nat.

Sciences,' May, 1868, p. 9.

[298] For instance the horns of the female _Ant. Euch.o.r.e_ resemble those of a distinct species, viz. the _Ant. Dorcas_ var. _Corine_, see Desmarest, 'Mammalogie,' p. 455.

[299] Gray, 'Catalogue Mamm. Brit. Mus.' part iii. 1852, p.

160.

[300] Richardson, 'Fauna Bor. Americana,' p. 278.

[301] 'Land and Water,' 1867, p. 346.

[302] Sir Andrew Smith, 'Zoology of S. Africa,' pl. xix. Owen, 'Anatomy of Vertebrates,' vol. iii. p. 624.

[303] Sir J. Emerson Tennent, 'Ceylon,' 1859, vol. ii. p. 274.

For Malacca, 'Journal of Indian Archipelago,' vol. iv. p. 357.

[304] 'Calcutta Journal of Nat. Hist.' vol. ii. 1843, p. 526.

[305] Mr. Blyth, in 'Land and Water,' March, 1867, p. 134, on the authority of Capt. Hutton and others. For the wild Pembrokes.h.i.+re goats see the 'Field,' 1869, p. 150.

[306] M. E. M. Bailly, "sur l'usage des Cornes," &c., 'Annal.

des Sc. Nat.' tom. ii. 1824, p. 369.

[307] Owen, on the Horns of Red-deer, 'British Fossil Mammals,'

1846, p. 478; 'Forest Creatures,' by Charles b.o.n.e.r, 1861, p.

76, 62. Richardson on the Horns of the Reindeer, 'Fauna Bor.

Americana,' 1829, p. 210.

[308] Hon. J. D. Caton ('Ottawa Acad. of Nat. Science,' May, 1868, p. 9), says that the American deer fight with their fore-feet, after "the question of superiority has been once settled and acknowledged in the herd." Bailly, "Sur l'usage des Cornes," 'Annales des Sc. Nat.' tom. ii. 1824, p. 371.

[309] See a most interesting account in the Appendix to Hon. J.

D. Caton's paper, as above quoted.

[310] 'The American Naturalist,' Dec. 1869, p. 552.

[311] Pallas, 'Spicilegia Zoologica,' fasc. xiii. 1779, p. 18.

[312] Lamont, 'Seasons with the Sea-Horses,' 1861, p. 141.

[313] See also Corse ('Philosoph. Transact.' 1799, p. 212) on the manner in which the short-tusked Mooknah variety of the elephant attacks other elephants.

[314] Owen, 'Anatomy of Vertebrates,' vol. iii. p. 349.

[315] See Ruppell (in 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc.' Jan. 12, 1836, p. 3) on the canines in deer and antelopes, with a note by Mr. Martin on a female American deer. See also Falconer ('Palaeont. Memoirs and Notes,' vol. i. 1868, p. 576) on canines in an adult female deer. In old males of the musk-deer the canines (Pallas, 'Spic.

Zoolog.' fasc. xiii. 1779, p. 18) sometimes grow to the length of three inches, whilst in old females a rudiment projects scarcely half an inch above the gums.

[316] Emerson Tennent, 'Ceylon,' 1859, vol. ii. p. 275; Owen, 'British Fossil Mammals,' 1846, p. 245.

[317] Richardson, 'Fauna Bor. Americana,' on the moose, _Alces palmata_, p. 236, 237; also on the expanse of the horns 'Land and Water,' 1869, p. 143. See also Owen, 'British Fossil Mammals,' on the Irish elk, p. 447, 455.

[318] 'Forest Creatures,' by C. b.o.n.e.r, 1861, p. 60.

[319] See the very interesting paper by Mr. J. A. Allen in 'Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoolog. of Cambridge; United States,' vol.

ii. No. 1, p. 82. The weights were ascertained by a careful observer, Capt. Bryant.