88 CATTLE. Chap. HI. 



existed from time immemorial at Chartlev, closely resemble 

 the cattle at Chillingham, but are larger, " with some small 

 difierence in the colour of the ears." " They frequently tend 

 to become entirely black ; and a singular superstition prevails 

 iu the vicinity that, when a black calf is born, some calamity 

 impends over the noble house of Ferrers. All the black 

 calves are destroyed." The cattle at Burton Constable in 

 Yorkshire, now extinct, had ears, muzzle, and the tip of the 

 tail black. Those at Gisburne, also in Yorkshire, are said by 

 Bewick to have been sometimes without dark muzzles, -R-ith 

 the inside alone of the ears brown ; and they are elsewhere 

 said to have been low in stature and hornless.^^ 



The several above-specified differences in the park-cattle, 

 slight thouoh they be, are worth recording, as they show that 

 animals living nearly in a state of nature, and exposed to 

 nearly uniform conditions, if not allowed to roam freel}^ and 

 to cross with other herds, do not keep as uniform as truly 

 wild animals. For the preservation of a uniform character, 

 even within the same park, a certain degree of selection — that 

 is, the destruction of the dark-coluui-ed calves — is apparently 

 necessary. 



Boyd Dawkins believes that the park-cattle are descended 

 from anciently domesticated, and not truly wild animals ; 

 and from the occasional appearance of dark-coloured calves, 

 it is improbable that the ahoiiginal Bos prmigentm was white. 

 It is curious what a strong, though not invariable, tendency 

 there is in wild or escaped cattle to become white with 

 coloured ears, under Avidely different conditions of life. If 

 the old writers Boethius and Leslie ^^ can be trusted, the 



'• I am much indebted to the Duke of Queensberry, si'e Pennant's 



present Earl of Tankerville for infor- 'Tour in Seotland,' p. 109. For those 



mation about his wild cattle; and for of Chartley, see Low's 'Domesticated 



the skull which was sent to Prof. Animals of Britain,' 1845, p. 238. 



Rutimeyer. The fullest account of For those of Gisburne, see Bewick's 



the Chillingham cattle is given by 'Quadrupeds,' and ' Encyclop. of Rural 



Jlr. Hindmarsh, together with a Sports,' p. 101. 



letter by the late Lord Tankerville, '' Boethius was born in 1470; 



in 'Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.,' 'Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.,' vol. 



rol. ii., 1839, p. 274. See Bewick, ii., 1839, p. 281; and vol. iv. 1849, 



'Quadrupeds,' 2nd edit., 1791, p. 35, p. 424. 

 note. With respect to those of the 



I 



