RELATION BETWEEN PATTERNS. 619 
that place, as intimated by some, be occupied by the streaked sparrows with nine pri- 
maries ? 
Presuming npon 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 ia the Sparrow Hawk, F. sparverius, 
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 investigations have shown that the pattern of coloration m 
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, aud 
preparations for leaving the country. 
“That the Creator should have ordained that millions of diminutive, tender creatures, 
should crossspaces 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 causeit to be enlivened with the sengs of the sweetest of the feathered 
musicians, for only two months at most, and then, by some extraordinary instinct, should 
cause them all to suddenly abandon the country, is as wonderful 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 to 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 fruits 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. Butin thirty days all is over; the 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. 
Wonderful! wonderful! But it requires an abler pen than mine to paint the picture of 
this all-wonderful country. 
‘“‘Aug. 5. This has been a fine day; we have had no new hurricanes 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” 
