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The Descent of Man

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ear-tufts, but the female is remarkable from<br />

having a much longer tail than that <strong>of</strong> the male;<br />

now the young <strong>of</strong> both sexes resemble (with the<br />

exception <strong>of</strong> the breast being spotted with<br />

bronze) the adult female in all other respects,<br />

including the length <strong>of</strong> her tail, so that the tail<br />

<strong>of</strong> the male actually becomes shorter as he reaches<br />

maturity, which is a most unusual circumstance.<br />

(3. I owe this information to Mr.<br />

Gould, who shewed me the specimens; see also<br />

his 'Introduction to the Trochilidae,' 1861, p.<br />

120.) Again, the plumage <strong>of</strong> the male goosander<br />

(Mergus merganser) is more conspicuously<br />

coloured than that <strong>of</strong> the female, with the scapular<br />

and secondary wing-feathers much longer;<br />

but differently from what occurs, as far as I<br />

know, in any other bird, the crest <strong>of</strong> the adult<br />

male, though broader than that <strong>of</strong> the female, is<br />

considerably shorter, being only a little above<br />

an inch in length; the crest <strong>of</strong> the female being<br />

two and a half inches long. Now the young <strong>of</strong><br />

both sexes entirely resemble the adult female,

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