E. LÖNNBERG, ON THE HARNESSED ANTELOPES. 9 



especially with its light markings, than the more or less 

 blackish one developed in the males. It appears to me that 

 such an explanation is more satisfactory than Lydékker's 

 (1. c.) when he regards the dark or blackish coat of the Sable 

 antelope, the Gaur etc. as a »warning colour». — The dark 

 coat of both sexes of certain large Ruminants should thus, 

 according to my theory, be originally a masculine characteri- 

 stic which by and by had been inherited by the other sex. 

 The transmission of masculine characteristics to the females 

 has already been pointed out b}^ Darwin and is nothing 

 uncommon, neither among the Ruminants nor among other 

 animals. Among the former the masculine weapons, antiers 

 or horns, may be inherited always, as by the Reindeer and 

 many Bovidse, or occasionally, as in other e. g. Antilope^ 

 Capreolus^ etc. The striped condition of the coat of Trage- 



^ Among the birds a transmission of the originally masculine bright 

 colovirs to both sexes can readily bo aasumed to liave taken place in many 

 bright-colouied speries in which the sexes are alike, but the youngs display 

 a moie sombre garb. As an example of this may here be mentioned only 

 the Swans and some Geese, for instance Chen, The gradual development in 

 suc-li a direction as indicated above is most beautifuUy ilkistrated by the 

 genus Chloephaga in which different species represent different sta ges. In 

 Chloephaga melanoptera botli sexes have assumed the biight. nuptial colours 

 whicli evidently once only belonged to the male viz. white with black- 

 wings and tail. In another species, Chl. hyhrida, the mnle only is white. 

 while the female is to great extent brown-black. In a third species, Chl. 

 wagellanica, the male is partly white partly barred with black bnt the 

 female greyish rnfous and bain"ed. In this latter case the difference be- 

 t«-een the sexes is quite conspicnons but the male although bright er than 

 the female has not reached such a high stage of development as in the 

 former case. And finally there are species as Chl. riihidiceps and polioce- 

 phala in which both sexes are alike and similar to the youngs and retai- 

 ning the less bright (feminine) dress. With such instances before the eyes it 

 seems rather tempting to extend the application of this mode of explana- 

 tion to a great number of other Inight coloured birds. for instance, to 

 quote Darwiist, »white cockatoos, several egrets — — , certain ibises, gulls, 

 terns etc. But it is not only to white-coloured birds this rnle can be 

 applied. It is a very cominon occurrence among birds that the male al- 

 ways or only for the pairing season has a black plumage while the fe- 

 males are brown or mottled and as Darwjn expresses himself» there can 

 hardly be a doubt that blackness in these cases has been a sexually se- 

 lected chai-acter •> . Whether it is »selected», or not, need not to be discussed 

 in this connection, it is, however, certainly a sexual and a masculine cha- 

 racter. And I think the consequences drawn by Darwtn from these 

 examples hold goöd viz. it is »probable that the complete or partial 

 blackness of both 'sexes in such birds as crows, certain cockatoos. storks 

 and swans and many marine birds is likewise the resuit of sexual selection, 

 accompanied by eqnal transmission to both sexes». The »equal trans- 

 mission» is the chief point there. Darwix adds, -»for blackness can hardly 

 serve in any case as a protection». This is quite true but it may be ob- 

 served that the birds quoted are such which may be regarded as suffi- 

 ciently protected by size. strength or intelligence in spite of a perhaps 

 somewhat unfavoiuable colouring of the plumage. 



Arkiv för zoologi. Bd 2. N:o 15. 2 



