Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- POSTSCRIPT
- PART II SEXUAL SELECTION—continued
- CHAPTER XII SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF FISHES, AMPHIBIANS, AND REPTILES
- CHAPTER XIII SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF BIRDS
- CHAPTER XIV BIRDS—continued
- CHAPTER XV BIRDS—continued
- CHAPTER XVI BIRDS—concluded
- CHAPTER XVII SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF MAMMALS
- CHAPTER XVIII SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF MAMMALS—continued
- CHAPTER XIX SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF MAN
- CHAPTER XX SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF MAN—continued
- CHAPTER XXI GENERAL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
- INDEX
CHAPTER XV - BIRDS—continued
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- POSTSCRIPT
- PART II SEXUAL SELECTION—continued
- CHAPTER XII SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF FISHES, AMPHIBIANS, AND REPTILES
- CHAPTER XIII SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF BIRDS
- CHAPTER XIV BIRDS—continued
- CHAPTER XV BIRDS—continued
- CHAPTER XVI BIRDS—concluded
- CHAPTER XVII SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF MAMMALS
- CHAPTER XVIII SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF MAMMALS—continued
- CHAPTER XIX SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF MAN
- CHAPTER XX SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF MAN—continued
- CHAPTER XXI GENERAL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
- INDEX
Summary
We have in this chapter to consider, why with many kinds of birds the female has not received the same ornaments as the male; and why with many others, both sexes are equally, or almost equally, ornamented? In the following chapter we shall consider why in some few rare cases the female is more conspicuously coloured than the male.
In my ‘Origin of Species’ I briefly suggested that the long tail of the peacock would be inconvenient, and the conspicuous black colour of the male capercailzie dangerous, to the female during the period of incubation; and consequently that the transmission of these characters from the male to the female offspring had been checked through natural selection. I still think that this may have occurred in some few instances: but after mature reflection on all the facts which I have been able to collect, I am now inclined to believe that when the sexes differ, the successive variations have generally been from the first limited in their transmission to the same sex in which they first appeared. Since my remarks appeared, the subject of sexual coloration has been discussed in some very interesting papers by Mr. Wallace, who believes that in almost all cases the successive variations tended at first to be transmitted equally to both sexes; but that the female was saved, through natural selection, from acquiring the conspicuous colours of the male, owing to the danger which she would thus have incurred during incubation.
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- The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex , pp. 154 - 182Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009