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NATURE STUDY 



ANIMALS 

 English Sparrows. 

 Facts : 



The male sparrow may be instantly distinguished from 

 his mate by the white bar on his wings and the black 

 mark on his throat and breast. The female is duller in 



English Sparrow, male. 



color, and the young birds, regardless of sex, resemble 

 her. This difference in color between the sexes is even 

 more marked in many other birds, and is variously 

 accounted for. Darwin believed that it resulted from 

 sexual selection, the female choosing for her mate the 

 most brilliantly colored of those who courted her, thus 

 perpetuating this characteristic. Wallace, on the con- 

 trary, believes that the more brilliantly and conspicuously 

 colored females have been destroyed, thus continuing 

 only the race of dull-colored ones. Others think that 



