136 On the Inheritance of Colour in Pigeons 



Account of the Experiments. 



The numbering of the experiments herein described is continued 

 from that of my previous experiments on colour contained in my first 

 report. Thus the present series of crosses begins at Exp. 47 and ends 

 at Exp. 91. The matings are divided as follows : 



Exps. 47 — 49 (see Table I) consist of matings of Rock Doves. 



Exps. 50 — 74 (see Tables II — V) consist of the matings of Rock 

 Doves to Whites. 



Exps. 75 — 78 (see Table VI) consist of the matings of Owls, Fantails, 

 Carriers and Dragoons. 



Exps. 79 — 91 (see Table VII) consist of experiments with Doves. 



Rock Doves used, in Experiments. 



The specimens of Columba livia used in these crosses came from two 

 sources : (1) three (fs from a pair taken at the Isle of Achill, on the west 

 coast of Ireland, and (2) one ^ and one $ from Lincolnshire. Irish birds 

 were used in Exps. 50, 71 and 72 of the matings with white, whilst 

 Lincolnshire birds were used in all the other crosses with whites. 



Irish Rock Doves. 



These birds were kindly sent to me in 1906 by Mr J. L. Bonhote, 

 who had bred them in his aviaries from a pair obtained by him from 

 Achill. He informed me that the birds there were quite wild, and he 

 saw no varieties in the flocks there. There were no tame pigeons within 

 a radius of about thirty miles. Mr Bonhote has bred 19 birds in all 

 from his Irish Rock Doves and their descendants, all true to type, with 

 one exception. This bird was chequered, but since it was produced 

 from a pair of birds that had their liberty, the possibility of a cross was 

 not excluded^ From the descriptions of the crosses made with these 

 birds it will be seen that no question arises as to their purity, and it 

 was found that in F^ from the mating of an Irish Rock Dove with 

 a white the pattern factor segregated out quite cleanly (v. Exp. 51). 



Lincolnshire Rock Doves. 



These birds were obtained in 1903 from Lincolnshire through a 

 dealer's advertisement. They were stated to be wild caught, but I could 

 obtain no reliable information concerning them. Their appearance was 

 identical in every respect with that of the Irish birds and other pure 



1 V. Bonhote and Smalley, P. Z. S. 1911, p. 605. 



