Chap. XVI.] THE YOUNG LIKE THE ADULT FEMALES. 189 



of variations which were from the first limited in their 

 transmission to the female sex. If the variations were not 

 thus limited, the bright tints of the. male would be deteri- 

 orated or destroyed. Whether the females alone of many 

 6pecies have been thus specially modified, is at present 

 very doubtful. I wish I could follow Mr. Wallace to the 

 full extent ; for the admission would remove some difficul- 

 ties. Any variations which were of no service to the 

 female as a protection would be at once obliterated, 

 instead of being lost simply by not being selected, or from 

 free intercrossing, or from being eliminated when trans- 

 ferred to the male and in any way injurious to him. Thus 

 the plumage of the female would be kept constant in char- 

 acter. It would also be a relief if we could admit that the 

 obscure tints of both sexes of many birds had been 

 acquired and preserved for the sake of protection — for 

 example, of the hedge-warbler or kitty-wren (Accentor 

 modular is and Troglodytes vulgaris), with respect to 

 which we have no sufficient evidence of the action of sex- 

 ual selection. We ought, however, to be cautious in 

 concluding that colors, which appear to us dull, are not 

 attractive to the females of certain species; we should 

 bear in mind such cases as that of the common house-spar- 

 row, in which the male differs much from the female, but 

 does not exhibit any bright tints. No one probably will 

 dispute that many gallinaceous birds which live on the 

 open ground have acquired their present colors, at least in 

 part, for the sake of protection. We know how well they 

 are thus concealed; we know that ptarmigans, while 

 changing from their winter to their summer plumage, both 

 of which are protective, suffer greatly from birds of prey. 

 But can we believe that the very slight differences in tints 

 and markings between, for instance, the female black and 

 red grouse serve as a protection ? Are partridges, as they 

 are now colored, better protected than if they had re- 



