406 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



It is believed that Culley's celebrated shorthorns at the beginning 

 of this century were bred by a cross secretly obtained with a Chil- 

 lingham wild bull.* During the last ten years Lord Tankerville 

 has been trying the experiment of strengthening the domestic 

 breed by crossing wild cattle and shorthorns. He commenced 

 with a wild bull and two shorthorn cows. They produced a 

 heifer and bull calf respectively on June 10th and 17th, 1877. 

 Both the calves had red noses, though the male's was smutted 

 with black; while the heifer (her dam's first calf) was the more 

 correctly marked about the ears. The bull calf, being the first 

 male of this new race, was named " Adam." In April, 1878, 

 Adam's dam, a shorthorn cow, produced a bull calf by Adam. 

 This bull when -Sg- years old measured 56 inches at the shoulder. 

 In the following j^ear Adam became the father of two more bull 

 calves out of shorthorn cows. In 1877 a wild yearling heifer was 

 shut off from the herd, and the following year a second one, in 

 continuation of this experiment. The elder one dropped a calf 

 by a shorthorn bull in 1880, but it died ; its fertility was after- 

 wards at least temporarily impaired by a remarkable contingency. 

 but in October, 1881, both were supposed to be in calf to a short- 

 horn bull. None of these were to be added to the wild herd, nor 

 were the wild cows to be ever readmitted. 



Lyme. — Mr. W. J. Legh, writing on June 3rd last, states that 

 this " herd ceased to exist about four years ago." It will be of 

 interest, therefore, to mention what state it was in ten years ago, 

 since which time we have no particulars of it. The herd being 

 on the decline so long ago as the year 1859, Mr. Legh purchased 

 in October of that year the last surviving cow and calf from the 

 Gisburne herd, and added them to his own at Lyme. The latest 

 account of this herd appeared in ' The Zoologist' for 1878, and 

 refers to a visit made by Mr. A. H. Cocks in June, 1877. Correcting 

 one or two obvious errors by comparing this account with Mr. 

 Storer's, taken in August, 1875, the following list includes the 

 animals that were nearly, or quite, the last representatives of this 

 ancient and interesting herd: — One old bull, said in 1877 to be 

 dying of old age, and to be eleven or twelve j^ears old, though 



EARS, but the present park-keeper destroyed them, since which period there 

 has not been one with black ears." 



* Bewick, oip. cit. p. 41 (foot-note), says: — "Tame cows, in season, are 

 frequently turned out amongst the wild cattle at Ghillingham." 



