There are sub-breeds of game fowl, with [female symbol]s very distinct
and [male symbol]s almost identical; but this apparently is the result
of spontaneous variation without special selection.
I am very glad to hear of the case of [female symbol] birds of paradise.
I have never in the least doubted the possibility of modifying female
birds _alone_ for protection; and I have long believed it for
butterflies: I have wanted only evidence for the females alone of birds
having had their colours modified for protection. But then I believe
that the variations by which a female bird or butterfly could get or has
got protective colouring have probably from the first been variations
limited in their transmission to the female sex; and so with the
variations of the male, where the male is more beautiful than the
female, I believe the variations were sexually limited in their
transmission to the males. I am delighted to hear that you have been
hard at work on your MS.--Yours most sincerely,
CH. DARWIN.
* * * * *
_9 St. Mark's Crescent, N.
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