RELATION BETWEEN PATTERNS. 619 



that place, as intimated by some, be oocnpied by the streaked sparrows with nine pri- 

 maries ? 



Presamiug upon the inference to be drawn from one of the laws above mentioned, 

 that where males and females differ in plumage, the male is more highly developed, and 

 has passed through a type of plumage which remains permanent in the female, it follows 

 that if we find an adult male of any species presenting one of these patterns of plumage 

 and the adult female another, we may decide that the male presents the higher 

 type of plumage . We discover such an example in the Sparrow Hawk, F. sparveriua, 

 the female of which is streaked below and barred above while the male presents dis- 

 tinct spots below, while the bars are wider and fewer above, and on the wing-coverts 

 are distinct spots. For this reason we conclude that the spotted pattern of plumage is a 

 higher development than the streaked or barred. Instances of the barred pattern suc- 

 ceeding streaks are not infrequent among the Raptores. 



We think then that our invcBtigations have shown that the pattern of coloration in 

 the adults of our Northern Birds is the same as that found in the young of allied Southern Birds , 



The cause or reason for such a law is unknown, but I believe the germ of the correct 

 idea is contained in the following from Audubon's Journal in Labrador (Life of Audubon, 

 p. 349) : 



" Aug. 4. It is wonderful how quickly every living thing in this region whether ani- 

 mal or vegetable, attains its growth. In six weeks I have seen the eggs laid, the birds 

 hatched, and their first moult half gone through ; their association in flocks begun, 3.nd 

 preparations for leaving the country. 



" That the Creator should have ordained that millions of diminutive, tender creatures, 

 should cross spaces of country, in all appearance a thousand times more congenial for all 

 their purposes, to reach this poor, desolate, and deserted land, to people it, as it were, for 

 a time, and to cause it to be enlivened with the songs of the sweetest of the feathered 

 mnsicians, fer only two months at most, and then, by some extraordinary instinct, should 

 cause them all to suddenly abandon the country, is as wonderfal as it is beautiful and 

 grand. 



" Six weeks ago this whole country was one sheet of ice; the land was covered with 

 snow, the air was filled with frost, and subject te incessant storms, and the whole country 

 a mere mass of apparently useless matter. Now the grass is abundant, and of rich 

 growth, the flowers are met with at every step, insects fill the air, and the fraits are 

 ripe. The sun shines, and its influence is as remarkable as it is beautiful ; the snow 

 banks appear as if about to melt, and here and there there is something of a summerish 

 look. But in thirty days all is over ; Che dark northern clouds will come down on the 

 mountains ; the rivulets and pools, and the bays themselves will begin to freeze ; weeks 

 of snow-storms will follow, and change the whole covering of these shores and country, 

 and nature will assume not only a sleeping state, but one of desolation and death. 

 Wonderfal ! wonderfal ! But it requires an abler pen than mine to paint the picture of 

 this all- wonderfal country. 



" Aug. 5. This has been a fine day ; we have had no new harricanes and I have fin- 

 ished the drawings of several new birds. It appears that northern birds come to matur- 

 ity sooner than southern birds ; this is reversing the rule in the human species " 



