Geoffrey SiAiitii and Mrs Haig Thomas 47 



found to be small, though containing some small oocytes ; the oviduct 

 was small and comparatively undeveloped. This bird had practically 

 typical female plumage, though the pattern of some of the feathers, 

 e.g. the interscapulars, showed a tendency towards the Reeve's male. 



Of the two hybrids between Reeve's ? and Formosan ^^ B had 

 again typically female plumage with a trace of male pattern in some 

 feathers. The ovary of this bird, at two years old and in the breeding 

 season, was markedly degenerate, there being no oocytes but only inter- 

 stitial and stroma cells. The genital ducts were peculiar in that there 

 were two oviducts (an abnormality of occasional occurrence in Galli- 

 naceous birds), which showed the same inflammation and hypertrophy 

 as in the sterile female K. The other hybrid G exhibited a strong 

 assumption of male plumage, green and purple feathers appearing on the 

 back, neck and breast. The ovary in this bird was highly degenerate, 

 consisting of a few minute nodules without any trace of oocytes, and 

 the oviduct was exceedingly small and undeveloped. 



Taking all these sterile females together we must observe a 

 considerable variation in the degree to which the secondary sexual 

 characters are altered, and in the degree to which these alterations are 

 correlated with the condition of the gonad. 



The females A, C, B and E showed absence of ovary associated 

 with very small oviduct and a marked assumption of male plumage. 

 M had a small ovary with oocytes, a small oviduct and very slight 

 assumption of male plumage. B had a degenerate ovary without 

 oocytes, hypertrophied oviducts and very slight assumption of male 

 plumage. K had a degenerate ovary without oocytes, hypertrophied 

 oviducts, and a strong assumption of male plumage. G had a degene- 

 rate ovary without oocytes, a small oviduct and a strong assumption 

 of male characters. We see therefore that in a female with ovaries 

 degenerate in a marked degree we may find either a small rudimentary 

 oviduct or a greatly hypertrophied one, and we may find a very slight 

 or a highly marked assumption of male plumage, without being able to 

 trace any correspondence in the degree of degeneration of the ovary. 

 Nevertheless the evidence is ample to show that degeneration of the 

 ovary is accompanied by some degree of assumption of male plumage 

 in every case, and by a marked assumption in the majority of cases, 

 and we are warranted in concluding that there is an organic correlation 

 between plumage and ovary in the case of pheasants of such a kind 

 that the presence of a normal functional ovary is necessary for the full 

 developement of the female plumage in a female pheasant. 



