76 INHERITANCE IN POULTRY. 



Andalusian Coloration. — Among the ofiFspring of a White Leghorn and a 

 Black Minorca two adult blue fowls were reared (fig. 54) . The coloration 

 was that of the Andalusian "breed." It consisted of a minute patchwork 

 of black and white pigment. Such a blue coloration is common in barn-yard 

 fowls. It results, according to the testimony of breeders,! from crossing 

 black and white. 



The special conditions which determine whether the offspring of a white 

 and a black parent shall be all white or barred or blue have not yet been 

 determined. The solution of this problem oflfers one of the most interesting 

 fields for future investigation (p. 30). 



White vs. Buff. — Both colors are novel ; the former is probably a nega- 

 tive mutation ; the latter has been extracted from the original game colora- 

 tion of fowls. The hybrids are prevailingly white, and white may be 

 regarded as dominant. Nevertheless, this dominance is imperfect, for in 

 half of the offspring buff is more or less evident. It is found diffused over 

 the back, wings, and breast as in " pile" Games. On the whole, white is 

 less strongly dominant over buff than it is over black (Hurst, 1905, p. 134). 



Black vs. Red. — The red coloration is ancestral ; the solid black is novel 

 and positive — a melanic condition. The hybrids between Black Cochin and 

 Red-breasted Game are prevailingly black, but about half of them show red 

 lacing on the hackle feathers or a red peppering in those places where red is 

 displayed by the Game. Black is dominant over red, but imperfectly so. 



COLOR OF TOP OF HEAD. 



In the white-crested Black Polish the feathers of the top of the head are 

 in striking contrast to those over the rest of the body. That the crest is not 

 necessarily white is proven by the existence of a black-crested race. Hybrids 

 between the Minorca, whose head is wholly black, and the Polish give (p. 

 15) chiefly black feathers in the males, the females, however, still showing 



as to what pigmeated ancestors they may have had. They were used iu five crosses, as 

 follows : (i) Black Cochin X White Leghorn; (2) White Leghorn X BnflF Cochin; (3) 

 White Leghorn X Black-breasted Red-backed Game ; (4) White Leghorn X Dark 

 Brahma ; (5) Dark Brahma X White Leghorn. 



Taking all offspring together, about 50 per cent (48.5) are white or nearly so. All 

 crosses exhibit barring, together in about one-quarter (26,5) of the cases, and also black 

 and buff or red. It seems probable that all of these pigments and the barred pattern 

 are latent in my White Leghorn bantams. These conclusions are supported by breed- 

 ing the White Leghorns inter se, when, in addition to white offspring, a black and a 

 barred were obtained (p. 40). Similarly among the second hybrids between theTosa and 

 White Cochin Bantam there appeared a male and a female resembling in plumage colora- 

 tion the Partridge Cochins (p. 49). This coloration probably lay latent in the gametes 

 of the White Cochin. 



t Compare Darwin (1876, I, Chapter VII ; 1S94, I, p. 270) ; Wright (1902, pp. 291, 292, 

 317. 301. 399. 401, etc.) ; Bateson and Saunders (1902, p. 131) ; Bateson and Punnett 

 (1905, p. 126). When blues are interbred, the offspring are either white or black or blue. 

 Even in the Andalusian " breed " the blue coloration has never become fixed. 



