To Abraham Dee Bartlett 9 December [1867]1
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
Dec. 9th
My dear Sir
Would you have the kindness to send me on a slip of paper the name of the 3 or 4 Tringa-like Birds in the Aquarium, which never, except once, assumed the proper summer plumage.2 Please just add whether you have known this with more than the 3 or 4 individuals, which you showed me.3
I much wish I could persuade you to try with differently coloured worsted or rags, whether the Bower-bird prefers gay colours.—4
I thank you most sincerely for all the interesting information which you so often give me.—5
My dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Birds of the world: Handbook of the birds of the world. By Josep del Hoyo et al. 17 vols. Barcelona: Lynx editions. 1991–2013.
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.
Expression: The expression of the emotions in man and animals. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1872.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Scherren, Henry. 1905. The Zoological Society of London: a sketch of its foundation and development and the story of its farm, museum, gardens, menagerie and library. London: Cassell.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Asks for name of the birds that have only once obtained summer plumage.
Wishes he could persuade ADB to experiment to see whether bower-birds prefer gay colours.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5719
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Abraham Dee Bartlett
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection)
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5719,” accessed on 23 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5719.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 15