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The Descent of Man

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cases we have feathers symmetrically shaded,<br />

like those which give so much elegance to the<br />

plumage <strong>of</strong> many natural species. I have also<br />

noticed a variety <strong>of</strong> the common pigeon with<br />

the wing-bars symmetrically zoned with three<br />

bright shades, instead <strong>of</strong> being simply black on<br />

a slaty-blue ground, as in the parent-species.<br />

In many groups <strong>of</strong> birds the plumage is differently<br />

coloured in the several species, yet certain<br />

spots, marks, or stripes are retained by all.<br />

Analogous cases occur with the breeds <strong>of</strong> the<br />

pigeon, which usually retain the two wingbars,<br />

though they may be coloured red, yellow,<br />

white, black, or blue, the rest <strong>of</strong> the plumage<br />

being <strong>of</strong> some wholly different tint. Here is a<br />

more curious case, in which certain marks are<br />

retained, though coloured in a manner almost<br />

exactly the opposite <strong>of</strong> what is natural; the aboriginal<br />

pigeon has a blue tail, with the terminal<br />

halves <strong>of</strong> the outer webs <strong>of</strong> the two outer tail<br />

feathers white; now there is a sub-variety

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