The Making of Species 



are the leading colours of the Amherst white and 

 green, instead of red and gold, but it is a bigger 

 bird with a larger tail and smaller crest, and a 

 bare patch round the eyes. 



The Pintail Duck (Daftla acuta] and the 

 Mallard or Wild Duck and its domestic descen- 

 dants (Anas boscas), when bred together, produce 

 hybrids which have been proved fertile between 

 themselves and with the pure pintail. Any 

 sportsman or frequenter of our parks can see for 

 himself the distinctness of the species concerned. 



The Pied Wagtail (Motacilla lugubris] and the 

 Grey Wagtail (M. melanope) have produced 

 hybrids in aviaries, which have proved fertile. 

 The two species are distinct in every way, as 

 all British ornithologists know. 



The Cut-throat Finch (Amadina fasciata) and 

 Red-headed Finch (A. erythrocephala] of Africa 

 have hybridised in aviaries, and the produce has 

 proved fertile. The red-headed finch, among 

 other differences, is far larger than the cut-throat, 

 and the males have the head all red, not merely 

 a throat-band of that colour. 



The Japanese Greenfinch (Ligurinus sinicus) 

 which is not green, but brown and grey, with 

 bolder yellow wing- and tail-markings than our 

 larger European greenfinch, has produced fertile 

 hybrids with this latter bird. 



The Red Dove of India (Oenopopilia tranque- 

 barica) has produced hybrids with the tame 



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