THE YOUNG LIKE BOTH ADULTS. 
215 
Ciu 
AP. XVI. 
^; a yed as important a part, as I believe it has, in 
Mviiig ornamental colours, plumes, &c., to the males, 
by means ot' equal transmission, to the iemales of 
''lany species. The objection would be a valid one, if 
younger and less ornamented males were as sue- 
^Ssiul in winning females and propagating their kind, 
Hie older and more beautiful males. But we have 
1,0 reason to suppose that this is the case. Audubon 
^Peaks of the breeding of the immature males of Ibis 
llll talug as a rare event, as does Mr. Svvinhoe, in re- 
h ' tl 'd to the immature males of Oriolus . 38 If the young 
any species in their immature plumage were more 
8l,e cessful in winning partners than the adults, the 
ilt,l| lt plumage would probably soon be lost, as the 
Joules which retained their immature dress ior the 
''''Rest period would prevail, and thus the character ot 
e species would ultimately be modified . 39 If, on the 
g a 
young never succee- 
ded in obtaiuin 
j! tller hand, the _ 
| l ' rriJ de, the habit of early reproduction would perhaps 
Sooner or later quite eliminated, from being super* 
" r °tis and entailing waste of power. 
L'he plumage of certain birds goes on increasing in 
'39 ^ ee *' j e l 0 ** foot-note. 
i . Other animals, belonging to quite distinct classes, are either 
0ii J 'taall y or occasionally capable of breeding before they have fully 
.'j'Ured their adult characters. This is the case with the young 
;° 3 of the salmon. Several amphibians have been known to breed 
'“Hi, 
Hil 
;i s t retaining their larval strueturo. Fritz Midler has shewn (‘ Facts 
-S| 9 -Arguments for Darwin,’ Eng. Irons. 1.869, p. 79) that the males of 
u umphipod crustaceans become Sexually mature whilst young; 
' 1 infer that this is a case of premature breeding, because they 
& ' e hot ns yet acquired their fully-developed claspcrs. All such facts 
highly interesting, as hearing on one means liy which sptcies may 
Vj ' or So great modifications of character, in accordance with Mr. Cope’, 
dr " s ’ ex pressed under the terms of the “ retardation and ucceleratloi 
generic characters but I cannot follow die views of this eminen 
[ fr "'alist to their full extent. See Mr. Cope, “ On the Origin of Genera,’ 
^ tlie ‘ Proc. of Acad, Nat. Sc. of Philadelphia,’ Ocl. 18GS. 
