The Descent of Man

cess by Mr. Esquilant in the case of silver turbits.
With fowls, variations of colour, limited in their
transmission to the male sex, habitually occur.
When this form of inheritance prevails, it might
well happen that some of the successive variations
would be transferred to the female, who
would then slightly resemble the male, as actually
occurs in some breeds. Or again, the
greater number, but not all, of the successive
steps might be transferred to both sexes, and
the female would then closely resemble the
male. There can hardly be a doubt that this is
the cause of the male pouter pigeon having a
somewhat larger crop, and of the male carrier
pigeon having somewhat larger wattles, than
their respective females; for fanciers have not
selected one sex more than the other, and have
had no wish that these characters should be
more strongly displayed in the male than in the
female, yet this is the case with both breeds.