536 



The Descent of Man, 



Vam a 



species, as Mr. Blyth informs me, with an exactly similar series 

 of facts, as in the Portax pic.ta, namely, in the male periodically 

 changing colour during the breeding-season, in the effects of 

 emasculation on this change, and in the young of both sexes 

 being indistinguishable from each other. In the Ant Hope niger 

 the male is black, the female, as well as the young of both 

 sexes, being brown ; in A. sing-sing the male is much brighter 

 coloured than the hornless female, and his chest and belly are 

 blacker; in the male A. caama, the marks and lines which occur 

 on various parts of the body are black, instead of brown as in 

 the female; in the brindled gnu (A. gorgon) "the colours of the 

 " male are nearly the same as those of the female, only deeper 

 " and of a brighter hue." 28 Other analogous cases could be added. 

 The Banteng bull (Ilos sondaicus) of the Malayan Archipelago 

 is almost black, with white legs and buttocks ; the cow is of a 

 bright dun, as are the young males until about the age of threo 

 years, when they rapidly change colour. The emasculated bull 

 reverts to the colour of the female. The female Kemas goat is 

 paler, and both it and the female Capra ctgagrus are said to be 

 more uniformly tinted than their males. Deer rarely present 

 any sexual differences in colour. Judge Caton, however, 

 informs me that in the males of the wapiti deer (Cervus 

 canadensis) the neck, belly, and legs are much darker than in 

 the female ; but during the winter the darker tints gradually 

 fade away and disappear. I may here mention that Judge 

 Caton has in his park three races of the Virginian deer, which 

 differ slightly in colour, but the differences are almost ex- 

 clusively confined to the blue winter or breeding coat ; so that 

 this case may be compared with those given in a previous 

 chapter of closely-allied or representative species of birds, which 

 differ from each other only in their breeding plumage. 27 The 

 females of Cervus paludosus of S. America, as well as the young 

 of both sexes, do not possess the black stripes on the nose and 

 the blackish-brown line on the breast, which are characteristic of 

 the adult males. 28 Lastly, as I am informed by Mr. Blyth, the 



26 On the Ant. niger, see ' Proc. 

 Zool. Soc' 1850, p. 133. With re- 

 spect to an allied species, in which 

 there is an equal sexual difference 

 in colour, see Sir S. Baker, ' The 

 Albert Nyanza,' 1866, vol. ii. p. 

 327. For the A. sing-sing, Gray, 

 ' Cat. B. Mus.' p. 100. Desmarest, 

 1 Mammalogie,' p. 468, on the A. 

 caama. Andrew Smith, ' Zoology 

 of S. Africa,' on the Gnu. 



2 ' ' Ottawa Academy of Sciences, 

 May, 21, 1868, pp. 3, 5. 



28 S. Miiller, on the Bantpng, 

 'Zoog. Indischen Archipel.' 1839- 

 1844, tab. 35; see also Raffles, as 

 quoted by Mr. Blyth, in ' Laud and 

 Water,' 1867, p. 476. On goats, 

 Dr. Gray, 'Cat. Brit. Mus.' p. 146 ; 

 Desmarest, ' Mammalogie,' p. 482. 

 On the Cervus paludosus, Rengger, 

 ibid. s. 345. 



