Chap. VIII.] SEXUAL SELECTION. 285 



ble that their colors first appeared early in life. We have 

 instances of this fact in all black and white breeds, in 

 which the young and old of both sexes are alike ; nor can 

 it be maintained that there is something peculiar in a 

 black or white plumage, leading to its transference to 

 both sexes ; for the males. alone of mgfny natural species 

 are either black or white, the females being very differ- 

 ently colored. "With the so-called Cuckoo sub-breeds of 

 the fowl, in which the feathers are transversely pencilled 

 with dark stripes, both sexes and the chickens are colored 

 in nearly the same manner. The laced plumage of the 

 Sebright bantam is the same in both sexes, and in the 

 chickens the feathers are tipped with black, which makes 

 a near approach to lacing. Spangled Hamburgs, however, 

 offer a partial exception, for the two sexes, though not 

 quite alike, resemble each other more closely than do the 

 sexes of the aboriginal parent-species, yet they acquire 

 their characteristic plumage late in life, for the chickens 

 are distinctly pencilled. Turning to other characters be- 

 sides color : the males alone of the wild parent-species and 

 of most domestic breeds possess a fairly well-developed 

 comb, but in the young of the Spanish fowl it is largely 

 developed at a very early age, and apparently in conse- 

 quence of this it is of unusual size m the adult females. 

 In the Game breeds pugnacity is developed at a wonder- 

 fully early age, of which curious proofs could be given ; 

 and this character is transmitted to both sexes, so that 

 the hens, from their extreme pugnacity, are now generally 

 exhibited in separate pens. With the Polish breeds the 

 bony protuberance of the skull which supports the crest is 

 partially developed even before the chickens are hatched, 

 and the crest itself soon begins to grow, though at first 

 feebly ; S1 and in this breed a great bony protuberance 



81 For full particulars and references on all these points respecting 

 the several breeds of the Fowl, see ' Variation of Animals and Plants un- 



