PROPORTION OF THE SttXES. 281 



of tLe blackbird, lie likewise maintained, were by far the more 

 numerous, whether caught by traps or by netting at night. These 

 statements may apparently be trusted, because this same man said 

 that the sexes are about equal with the lark, the twite (Linaria 

 montana), and goldfinch. On the other hand, he is certain that with, 

 the common linnet, the females preponderate greatly, but unequally, 

 during different years; during some years he has found the females 

 to the males as 4 to 1. It should, however, be borne in mind, 

 that the chief season for catching birds does not begin till September, 

 so that with some species partial migrations may have begun, and 

 the flocks at this period often consist of hens al< x| ie. Mr. Sal via 

 paid particular attention to the sexes of the bumming- birds ; n Cen- 

 tral America, and he is convinced that with most of the species the 

 males are in excess; thus one year he procured 204 specimens belong- 

 ing to ten species, and these consisted of 166 males and of only 38 

 females. With two other species the females were in excess; but 

 the proportions apparently vary either during different seasons or in 

 different localities; for on one occasion the males of Campy lopterits 

 hemUei(ciiriis were to the females as 5 to 2. and on another occasion* 

 in exactly the reversed ratio. As bearing on this latter point, I may 

 add that Mr. Powys found in Corfu and Epirus the sexes of the 

 chaffinch keeping apart, and "the females by far the most numer- 

 ous;" while in Palestine, Mr. Tristram found "the male flocks 

 appearing greatly to exceed the female in number. "f So again 

 with the Quiscalus major, Mr. G. Taylor}: says, that in Florida there 

 were " very vew females in proportion to the males," while in Hon- 

 duras the proportion was the other way, the species there having the 

 character of a polygamist. 



Fish. With fish, tlie proportional numbers of the sexes can be 

 ascertained only by catching them in the adult or nearly adult state; 

 and there are many difficulties in arriving at any just conclusion. 

 Infertile females might readily be mistaken for males, as Dr. Giin- 

 ther has remarked to me in regard to irout. With some species the 

 males are believed to die soon after fertilizing the ova. With many 

 species the males are of much smaller size than the females, GO that 

 a la?ge number of males would escape from the same net by which, 

 the females were caught. M. CarbonnierJ who has especially 

 attended to the natural history of the pike (Efsox lucius), states that 

 many males, owing to their small size, are devoured by the larger- 

 females; and he believes that the males of almost all fish are exposed 

 from this same cause to greater danger than the females. Neverthe- 

 less, in the few cases in which the proportional numbers have been 

 actually observed, the males appear to be largely in excess. Thus 

 Mr. R. Buist, the superintendent of the Stormontfield experiments, 



*" Ibis," vol. ii, p. SCO, as quoted in "Gould's Trochilidae," 1801, p. 52. 

 For the foregoing proportions. I am indebted to Mr. Salviu for a table of lus 

 results. 



t " Ibis," 1850. p. 137; and 1837, p. 369. 

 $ " Ibis," 18C-J. p. 187. 



Leuckart quotes Bloch (Wagner, " Handworterbuch der Phys.," B. lv. 

 18o-'l, s. 775), that with fish there are twice as many males us Jemales. 

 1 Quoted ia the " Farmer." March 18, 1869 r p. 869. 



