To W. B. Tegetmeier 30 March [1867]1
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
March 30
My dear Sir
I am much obliged for your note & shall be truly obliged if you will insert any questions on subject.2 That is a capital remark of yours about the trimmed Game cocks & shall be quoted by me.3 Nevertheless I am still inclined from many facts strongly to believe that the beauty of the male bird determines choice of female with wild Birds, however it may be under domestication. Sir R. Heron has described how one pied Peacock was extra attractive to the Hens.—4 This is a subject which I must take up as soon as my present book is done.—5
I shall be most particularly obliged to you if you will die with magenta a pigeon or two. Would it not be better to die the tail alone & crown of head; so as not to make too great a difference: I shall be very curious to hear how an entirely crimson pigeon will be received by the others as well as his mate.6
With cordial thanks for your never failing kindness— | Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin
PS. Many thanks for the printed Queries.7
P.S. Perhaps the best experiment for my purpose would be to colour a young unpaired male & turn him with other pigeons & observe whether he was longer or quicker than usual in mating.
Footnotes
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.
Mayr, Ernst. 1972. Sexual selection and natural selection. In Sexual selection and the descent of man, 1871–1971, edited by Bernard Campbell. London: Heinemann.
Summary
Believes beauty of male bird important for attracting mate in wild. Will be interested to hear how a dyed male pigeon is received by the hens.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5475
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Bernhard Tegetmeier
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5475,” accessed on 19 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5475.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 15