124 Colour Inheritance in Pigeons 



from this group have been tested at greater length than most of the 

 extracted colours and have been found to be pure. 



Group 6. The results from this group do not support the generally 

 accepted view of fanciers that almost any colour may arise from blue 

 chequer x blue chequer. I have examined the results of many breeders, 

 and where cross-mating can be definitely excluded, the results agree 

 with my own. The majority of the birds used in this group had at 

 least one red parent. This fact is strong evidence of their recessive 

 and homozygous nature. 



Some blue chequers from two reds have a reddish brown tinge in 

 some of the wing-quills especially. I expected to obtain reds from these, 

 but so far have failed. This type of blue chequer appears to give an 

 increased proportion of reds when mated to reds. 



Pied types. The behaviour of white is difficult to follow. Two main 

 types are met with, the " gay " pied and the type with a few white 

 feathers. The majority of gay pied birds follow a fairly uniform pattern 

 in the distribution of white. This " pattern " type is probably dominant 

 to self colour. On the other hand the type with a few white feathers is 

 recessive. In testing the extracted colours several examples of this 

 recessive type arose. No pied birds were used in any of the experi- 

 ments. 



Group 7. The red chequer and mealy in this group arose from the 

 same pair and in the same nest. Their occurrence is disconcerting as 

 the likelihood of cross-mating was no greater in their particular case 

 than in any other. However, that cross-.mating is the explanation, 

 I feel assured of by the subsequent offspring of the parents of these two 

 exceptions. Thus far 14 birds have been produced from this one pair 

 in complete isolation. The seventh pair of young now (Mar. 15th, 

 1917) three weeks old provides no single atypically coloured specimen. 



The appearance of this single family is : 



(14) 8 Blue cheq. : 6 Blue. 



It may be allowed that the composition of the blue parent is rcrc 

 and that of the blue chequer rCrc. 



Group 8. In this group one of the birds had two white primary 

 wing-quills. Of the remaining 31 birds, 30 were typical blues, one had 

 grizzle primaries and a general colouring approaching more closely to 

 grizzle than blue. Grizzle being a macroscopic admixture of blue and 

 white, all the birds in this group have been considered to be substantially 

 blue. 



