270 THE DESCENT OF MAN. 



by the period at which such characters are developed. Thus 

 in all the many breeds in which the adult male differs 

 greatly in color from the female, as well as from the wild 

 parent-species, he differs also from the young male, so that 

 the newly-acquired characters must have appeared at a 

 rather late period of life. On the other hand, in most of 

 the breeds in which the two sexes resemble each other, the 

 young are colored in nearly the same manner as their 

 parents, and this renders it probable 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, which 

 leads to its transference to both sexes; for the males alone 

 of many natural species are either black or white, the 

 females being differently colored. With the so-called 

 Cuckoo sub-breeds of the fowl in which the feathers are 

 transversely penciled 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 young chickens the wing-feathers are dis- 

 tinctly, though imperfectly, laced. 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 penciled. With respect to other 

 characters besides color, in the wild-parent species and in 

 most of the domestic breeds the males alone possess a well- 

 developed comb; but in the young of the Spanish fowl it 

 is largely developed at a very early age, and, in accordance 

 with this early development in the male, it is of unusual 

 size in the adult female. In the game breeds pugnacity is 

 developed at a wonderfully 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;* and in this breed the adults 



* For fuli particulars and references on all these points respecting 

 the several breeds of the fowl, see " Variation of Animals and Plants 



