To W. B. Tegetmeier   25 August 1869

My dear Sir,

I am much obliged for your note.¹ But when I wrote last I returned to you a memorandum with information from M^r. Hewitt about the chickens of Sebright bantams; for I could not read one word about the spangling of the feathers; I further asked whether the Spangles were crescent-shaped or rounded.—²

Many thanks for the feathers of the Silver Spangled Polish, but I do not understand whether the general plumage of the chickens resembles that of the adult birds as nearly as do the crest feathers.³

I hope that you will succeed in finding out for me the character of the plumage of “cuckoo chickens” when about 7 or 8 weeks old.⁴

It is very important to me to learn whether in breeds in which the adult sexes resemble each other in plumage, the chickens nearly approach in plumage to the adults;⁵ but I am well aware that I have no claim to give you so much trouble.—

Many thanks for the Review; the fact would have been of much interest to me, if M^r Williams had stated to what species his experiments referred.⁶

Believe me, my dear Sir, | Yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin

P.S. I will not accept your very kind offer of lending me the Polish chickens.

When you say that “the notes give the information you require” I suppose you refer to the notes on the paper with the feathers; but I am more concerned with the general plumage of the body.