071 the Silve7'-eared Jktesia.



43



studying young birds, that the young plumage is in many

species decidedly variable, especially in respect to head¬

colouring. Thus, in the Paradise Flycatcher, Terpsiphone

paradisi, the young is said at once to have a black cap ; and so it

has sometimes; but I have also seen it with the cap chestnut

like the back, and it varied in birds of the same brood. Again

in the Bank Mynah, Acridotheres ginginianus, the head of the

young is described as drab ; but I have also seen many specimens

in which the head was black as in the adults, although not so

deep and rich in tone. In the Blue-cheeked Barbet, Cyavops

asiatica, also, the young usually show the red and blue

colouration of the adult’s head in a fainter form ; but this is

variable ; and I have seen specimens where these tints were

hardly apparent.


“ It is thus evident that we must be prepared to recognize

a good deal of discrepancy in the colouration of young birds,

even in those bred in a wild state. I have seen it stated some¬

where that the most vigorous young birds are those which tend

most strongly to an adult colouration ; but in the case of the

present youngster this cannot be said, as it was a weakly bird—

and no wonder considering the season.


“We must be careful not to attribute its dull general

colouration to inheritance of an acquired character—the fading

of the plumage of the parents. For obviously the same causes

which have dulled their colours have acted on the young bird

also from its very birth.


At the same time it gives us some idea of the extreme

rapidity with which a ‘local race’ maybe formed when mem¬

bers of a species get into a different environment. Although

it must be again borne in mind that differences such as

characteiize local races may often be seen in individuals of the

same wild species living side by side ; and also most aviculturists

must have noticed that in captivity and under the same treat¬

ment some individuals will assume abnormal colouration and

others retain their hues,” Frank Finn.


[I do not quite agree with Mr. Finn in one or two of his

conclusions ; and may not sex have something to do with the



