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The Descent of Man

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that here the tail differs in colour in the two<br />

sexes in exactly the same manner as the whole<br />

upper surface in the two sexes <strong>of</strong> Carcineutes.<br />

With parrots, which likewise build in holes, we<br />

find analogous cases: in most <strong>of</strong> the species,<br />

both sexes are brilliantly coloured and indistinguishable,<br />

but in not a few species the males<br />

are coloured rather more vividly than the females,<br />

or even very differently from them. Thus,<br />

besides other strongly-marked differences, the<br />

whole under surface <strong>of</strong> the male King Lory<br />

(Aprosmictus scapulatus) is scarlet, whilst the<br />

throat and chest <strong>of</strong> the female is green tinged<br />

with red: in the Euphema splendida there is a<br />

similar difference, the face and wing coverts<br />

moreover <strong>of</strong> the female being <strong>of</strong> a paler blue<br />

than in the male. (23. Every gradation <strong>of</strong> difference<br />

between the sexes may be followed in the<br />

parrots <strong>of</strong> Australia. See Gould's 'Handbook,'<br />

etc., vol. ii. pp. 14-102.) In the family <strong>of</strong> the tits<br />

(Parinae), which build concealed nests, the fe-

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