To be sure this is in confinement; but the fact is, I think, quite conclusive against any such sexual selection in a state of nature as would account for the local coloration referred to.
[39] Mr.Darwin, in the last (fifth) edition of "Natural Selection," 1869, p.

102, admits that all sexual differences are not to be attributed to the agency of sexual selection, mentioning the wattle of carrier pigeons, tuft of turkey-cock, &c.

These characters, however, seem less inexplicable by sexual selection than those given in the text.
[40] I am again indebted to the kindness of Mr.A.D.Bartlett, amongst others.

That gentleman informs me that, so far from any mental emotion being produced in rabbits by the presence and movements of snakes, that he has actually seen a male and female rabbit satisfy the sexual instinct in that presence, a rabbit being seized by a snake when _in coitu_.
[41] "Habit and Intelligence," vol.i.p.

319.
[42] The reader may consult Huxley's "Lessons in Elementary Physiology," p.
204.
[43] "Natural Selection," p.