The Making of Species 
purposes do not assume all the varied hues that 
characterise those that are allowed to breed in- 
discriminately. Racehorses, greyhounds, and 
homing pigeons furnish examples of this. Even 
more remarkable is the case of the Indian Aseel 
or game-cock. This is bred purely for fighting 
purposes, and is required to display extraordinary 
powers of endurance, since the spurs are cut off 
in order to prolong the fight. Thus it is that 
this Indian race of game-cocks shows little varia- 
tion when compared with the English breed, 
which fights in a more natural manner. The 
hens of the Indian form seem never to show the 
colouration of the wild jungle fowl, although the 
cocks may do so. It would appear that hens 
having the colouration of their wild ancestors 
cannot breed cocks possessed of the requisite 
courage. The Aseel is said to be of the highest 
courage only when the legs, beak and iris are 
white. 
There is, we believe, not the least doubt that 
many other connections between colour and 
various characteristics have yet to be discovered. 
It is high time that competent naturalists paid 
attention to this subject. A study of the question 
will almost certainly throw much light upon many 
phenomena of animal colouration which hitherto 
have not been satisfactorily explained. It is 
quite likely that the sandy hue displayed by 
birds and beasts which frequent desert regions 
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