\l 



96 INHERITANCE IN POULTRY. 



ral hernia which now is found equally in both sexes of the Polish fowl was 

 formerly a female secondary sexual characteristic. Bechstein (1793) states 

 that he never observed the cranial dome in male Polish fowl. Blumenbach 

 (1813), who made numerous dissections of the cranium of this fowl, states 

 ' ' of this deformity very slight traces indeed are found in the cocks, and 

 these but seldom." * Consequently it must be concluded that the female 

 secondary characteristic of cerebral hernia has been gradually transferred 

 to the male sex also. A case of which the history is known even more defi- 

 nitely is that of the Sebright Bantam. This bird is characterized by the 

 fact that in the male the hackle, saddle, and sickle feathers are of the same 

 form as in the female ; consequently the tail is short and truncate as in a 

 hen. Here, apparently, female characteristics have become attached to a 

 male. Fortunately we have the history of the race from the mouth of the 

 son of the maker, Sir Thomas Sebright. Dr. Horner, who obtained the state- 

 ment from Sebright, published it in Tegetmeier's Poultry Book (1868, pp. 

 241, 242). 



It was about the year 1800 that the late Sir John Sebright began to fashion the Sebright 

 Bantam. The first cross was between a common Bantamf and the Polish fowl, j The 

 chickens resulting from this alliance were bred in-and-in until the required markings 

 and size were secured. Sir John then accidentally found a hen-tailed Bantam cock in 

 the country where he was traveling. This short-tailed bird he in-bred with his newly 

 manufactured Bantams, thereby giving their progeny the present form of the square tail. 



The essential characteristic of the race was thus gained from a mutative v 

 modification of a polymorphic characteristic. 



In my own experiments I have hardly proceeded far enough to get results ; 

 yet already evidence of transference of color characteristics from one sex 

 to the other is appearing. Thus in the second hybrid generation of the 

 Cochin X Tosa cross at least one bird (No. 659 9 ) has hackles of a plain 

 buff color like those of the male Tosa fowl, and entirely unlike the hackles 

 of the female Tosa fowl or the female of the dark variety of the Cochin. 

 Again, the female hybrids between the Dark Brahma hen and White Leghorn 

 cock have much red on the wing coverts. This is foreign to the Dark Brahma, 

 hen, and must, so far as I can see, have been derived from the red on the 

 wings of the male Tosa fowl. Finally, two male hybrids between the Tosa 

 fowl and Dark Brahma show the feminine shafting. Experiments in con- 

 tinuance of this investigation are, naturally, in progress. 



* Translation quoted by Tegetmeier, 1867, p. 173. 



f Doubtless Game Bantam is here meant. 



J The Golden Spangled Polish are undoubtedly referred to, whence the spangling of the 

 feather was obtained. The combination gave the small size and gold-spangled plumage. 



As might be anticipated from the notoriously sterile quality of hen-feathered cocks, 

 Sebright Bantams are inclined to be sterile, and one is advised not to try to breed from 

 the best show stock, i. <?., cocks with the shortest tails (Wright, 1902, p. 598). 



