248 A THEORY OF BIRDS’ NESTS. 
to the other. Several very close observers of the 
habits of animals have assured me, that male birds and 
quadrupeds do often take very strong likes and dis- 
likes to individual females, and we can hardly believe 
that the one sex (the female) can have a general taste 
for colour while the other has no such taste. How- 
ever this may be, the fact remains, that in a vast 
number of cases the female acquires as brilliant and 
as varied colours as the male, and therefore most pro- 
bably acquires them in the same way as the male does; 
that is, either because the colour is useful to it, or is 
correlated with some useful variation, or is pleasing to 
the other sex. The only remaining supposition is that 
it is transmitted from the other sex, without being ot 
any use. From the number of examples above adduced 
of bright colours in the female, this would imply that 
colour-characters acquired by one sex are generally 
(but not necessarily) transmitted to the other. If this 
be the case it will, I think, enable us to explain the 
phenomena, even if we do not admit that the male 
bird is ever influenced in the choice of a mate by her 
more gay or perfect plumage. 
The female bird, while sitting on her eggs in an 
uncovered nest, is much exposed to the attacks of 
‘enemies, and any modifecation of colour which ren- 
dered her more conspicuous would often lead to her 
destruction and that of her offspring. All variations 
of colour in this direction in the female, would there- 
fore sooner or later be eliminated, while such modifi- 
cations as rendered her inconspicuous, by assimilating 
