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Darwin Correspondence Project

To Edward Hewitt   [c. 22 March 1868]1

Dear Sir—

several y. ago you gave me very valuable information;2 I know I have no claim to trespass on your k. but if you cd spare time in course of next few weeks to reflect on following points & give me any facts, I shd be grateful.— You have stated that when pheasant cocks (but I am writing this letter from home & have not my reference at hand) were placed with common hens, they preferred certain birds & disliked others. Sir R. H. also states that a certain p. P. could win the affection of all his hens.—3 Now I am writing on secondary sexual character, as so called by J. Hunter,4 & I am anxious to collect all facts in regard to the courtship of birds,—on the individual attachment of particular birds to each other—on certain males preferring particular females from their plumage, voice, or other unknown qualities & more especially in regard to females preferring particular males.— Have you observed (& I know you have had wider experience than almost any other man in England) anything of the kind with fowls, ducks or other Birds— Will a common hen ever evince any choice with which male to unite, when many birds first run together? Or is it mere chance. I shd be truly obliged for any facts on the above heads. In a work recently published viz Dom. Animals & Plants I have made great use of the various valuable observations which you have recorded in various publications, & I hope I have done some slight service in bringing these facts to the notice of scientific naturalists5

Pray excuse the liberty which I take in writing to you | & I remain Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | C. Darwin

P.S. I will add that I am collecting, partly with the aid of Mr Tegetmeier—on the proportion of males and females in all domestic quadrupeds & birds—6 If you have kept any records of the [work] it wd be of great interest if I might use & follow it—

Footnotes

The date is established by the relationship between this letter, the letter to J. J. Weir, 22 March [1868], and the letter from Edward Hewitt, 28 March 1868.
Hewitt had provided information on hybrid fowls (see Correspondence vol. 6, letters from Edward Hewitt, 18 December 1857 and 22 December 1857).
In his essay, ‘An account of an extraordinary pheasant’ (Hunter 1786, p. 63), John Hunter wrote: ‘The differences which are found in the parts of generation themselves, I shall call the first, or principle; and all others depending upon these I shall call secondary.’ CD refers to Hunter’s definition in Descent 1: 253.
Hewitt is frequently cited on the subject of fowls in Variation.
In his letter of 11 February [1868], CD had asked William Bernhard Tegetmeier for help in discovering the proportion of males to females in various domestic animals. Tegetmeier published CD’s request in the Field, 22 February 1868, p. 144

Bibliography

Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.

Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.

Heron, Robert. 1835. Notes on the habits of the pea-fowl. [Read 14 April 1835.] Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1833–5) pt 3: 54.

Hunter, John. 1786. Observations on certain parts of the animal œconomy. London: n.p.

Summary

Asks for facts relating to courtship of birds and especially cases of females preferring particular males.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-5963
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Edward Hewitt
Sent from
unstated
Source of text
DAR 96: 41
Physical description
ADraftS 2pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5963,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5963.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16

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