[157]

Daines Barrington Phil Transact 1773 p. 164 - He thinks that small birds only sing, on account of greater danger ♀ birds do not sing, "because this talent wd be still more dangerous during incubation"; "which may possibly also account for the inferiority in point of plumage."

Hon.

Barrington, Daines. 1773. Experiments and observations on the singing of birds, by the Hon. Daines Barrington, Vice Pres. R. S. In a letter to Mathew Maty, M. D. Sec. R. S. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 63: 249-291. PDF Darwin cited this in Descent 2: 163, n6: "Daines Barrington, however, thought it probable ('Phil. Transact' 1773, p. 164) that few female birds sing, because the talent would have been dangerous to them during incubation, He adds, that a similar view may possibly account for the inferiority of the female to the male in plumage." Darwin has written the incorrect page number. His error was copied into later publications claiming to be citing Barrington but which were merely copying from Darwin's Descent of man.