Identifier: howtosexcagebird00butl (find matches)
Title: How to sex cage birds (British and foreign)
Year: 1907 (1900s)
Authors: Butler, Arthur G. (Arthur Gardiner), 1844-1925
Subjects: Cage birds Sex
Publisher: London, "The Feathered world", "Canary and cage-bird life"

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ts replaced by brown, and the bars across the wingsmuch less prominent. The Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus). The sexes are similar in plumage, but the female is smaller thanthe male, and has a shorter wing ; doubtless the beak shows thesame differences as in other species. The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus). The female is altogether duller and browner than the male. Thebroad borders to the feathers of the mantle and back being tawnyrather than chestnut; the eyebrow line and bar on the wing are lesspure and distinct; the under parts browner, with no black onthroat and chest. In an article which I published in The Zoologistin 1900, pp. 74, 75, I pointed out that comparisons of the totallength in the flesh of individuals of this species, with the relativelength of their wings, conclusively proved that the wing of thefemale was out of all proportion shorter than that of the male;where the largest hen exceeded the largest cock in size, her wingmeasured half an inch less in entire length.
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GOLDFINCH, FMEAMLL, British Fringillinae. 39 The cabinet-naturalist, not having expanded wings to measurefrom, nor birds in the flesh, but only more or less distorted skinsand closed wings, cannot possibly take his measurements withabsolute accuracy; therefore when he gives the total length of wingsin male and female of a species (even assuming that he has measuredmore than one example, which is not always certain), one cannotconsider his dictum as final. It is certain that if the wing of a male Passerine bird is notlonger than its female, it must be so formed as to give him greaterpower in flight, otherwise he could not overtake his mate. Forthis reason it is especially important, even from a cabinet-naturalistsstandpoint, that he should have expanded wings of all species beforehim, so that he may discover the nature of the differences whichmust exist. The Linnet (Acanthis cannabina). The female shows none of the crimson colouring which characterisesthe breeding-plumage of the male;

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