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The Descent of Man

The Descent of Man

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WHEN THE ADULT MALE RESEMBLES<br />

THE ADULT FEMALE, THE YOUNG OF<br />

BOTH SEXES IN THEIR FIRST PLUMAGE<br />

RESEMBLE THE ADULTS.<br />

In this class the young and the adults <strong>of</strong> both<br />

sexes, whether brilliantly or obscurely coloured,<br />

resemble each other. Such cases are, I<br />

think, more common than those in the last<br />

class. We have in England instances in the kingfisher,<br />

some woodpeckers, the jay, magpie,<br />

crow, and many small dull- coloured birds,<br />

such as the hedge-warbler or kitty-wren. But<br />

the similarity in plumage between the young<br />

and the old is never complete, and graduates<br />

away into dissimilarity. Thus the young <strong>of</strong> some<br />

members <strong>of</strong> the kingfisher family are not<br />

only less vividly coloured than the adults, but<br />

many <strong>of</strong> the feathers on the lower surface are<br />

edged with brown (27. Jerdon, 'Birds <strong>of</strong> India,'<br />

vol. i. pp. 222, 228. Gould's 'Handbook to the<br />

Birds <strong>of</strong> Australia,' vol. i. pp. 124, 130.),—a vestige<br />

probably <strong>of</strong> a former state <strong>of</strong> the plumage.

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