From J. J. Weir 7 March 1868
6 Haddo Villas | Blackheath SE
7 M’ch 1868
My Dear Sir
I hasten to apologize for having written genus “Edusa”, it was a lapsus calami I intended “Colias” but having the common species in my mind I made the error.—1
If Edusa is seen to settle unless you mark the spot very carefully it is difficult to find, so well do its colors harmonize with the vegetation it frequents.—2
I know you like as many facts bearing on a case as possible & therefore venture to add a few similar to those already known.
My friend Mr. F Bond shot a Corvus corone from the nest & took out four eggs, a fortnight afterwards, he again shot from the same nest another bird, again he took out 4 eggs.—3
I knew of a case of a kestrels nest from which three males in succession were shot, the two first in the mature plumage with the blue tail, the last in the immature plumage of the young male of the previous year.—4
Last year a Gamekeeper of a friend of mine at Brenchley killed both male & female from a nest & took out all the young ones which were nailed up in the usual manner,5 but in the Autumn the kestrels were there still & from the screams they made when I went near the spot it appeared to me that young had been reared after all.—
I do not however give this last case as more than a corroborative one.—
You have probably observed in Pigeons that when the male or female are sitting, the bird off the nest leads an unchaste life.—
This I feel convinced occurs in nature, but as wild birds almost always resemble each other the bastardy is rarely noticed.
I have met with a case in which a Goldfinch and a Greenfinch built a nest each in the same tree, but one of the young birds in the Goldfinch’s nest was a hybrid between the two species, I have seen several other hybrids probably so produced in nature between the species adverted to, and between the Green & Gray linnet, the Chaffinch & Bramblefinch once, and was just too late yesterday to see one between the Gray & the Mountain Linnet.—6
I do not think it is quite clear that all birds are paired even if the nest contains young
I caught a hen sparrow last year and cut off her tail, for hours I watched that bird, she had a nest & reared her young but not once did I see a male either with her or feeding the young, but of course I do not suppose it was a case of parthenogenesis.—
On the other hand my friend Newman (a sad Antidarwinian) tells me that three Starlings were associated with one nest in his house at Peckham.—7
Again an observing friend of mine saw at Buenos Ayres, three Parots engaged in building one nest.—8
It is quite certain in captivity that Canaries become polygamous, & I think pantagamous, Four males in a room is the usual allowance for twelve females.—9
There is another curious fact, two female pigeons will sometimes appear to pair, I have known 4 eggs produced under such circumstances.—
I think you may safely rely on the fact that the beak of the male Goldfinch is longer than the female, it is the mode in which the sexes are separated by Dealers before the change from the nestling plumage.10
I have a few remarks on birds not eating brightly colored catterpillars which I will reserve for my next
Yours very sincerely | J Jenner Weir
C Darwin Esqr.
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Feare, Christopher. 1984. The starling. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Greenoak, Francesca. 1997. British birds: their folklore, names and literature. London: Christopher Helm.
Post Office directory of the six home counties: Post Office directory of the six home counties, viz., Essex, Herts, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex. London: W. Kelly & Co. 1845–78.
Salmon, Michael A. 2000. The Aurelian legacy: British butterflies and their collectors. With additional material by Peter Marren and Basil Harley. Colchester: Harley Books.
Village, Andrew. 1990. The kestrel. London: Poyser.
Summary
Various facts about birds: pairing, finding new mates, protective coloration, polygamy, sexual differences.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5995
- From
- John Jenner Weir
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Blackheath
- Source of text
- DAR 86: A21–4
- Physical description
- ALS 8pp †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5995,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5995.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16