72 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Duhlin Societi/. 



dun gives 1 red and 2 yellows ; red by both duns gives 8 yellows and 9 

 duns; and yellow by yellow gives 15 reds, 40 yellows, 13 duns, 1 black, and 

 5 brindles. 



The observation that dun has something to do with black draws attention 

 to column 1 of this table, the details of which indicate that either dun or 

 black is a hybrid of the otlier. Remembering that some of the blacks 

 contain red, the 5 yellows point to light dun as the third colour concerned. 

 Column 5 suggests that dun is the hybrid, and light dun and black the 

 parents, and column 6 offers strong confirmation. 



These suggestions as to the constitution of both yellow and dun can be 

 confirmed again by reference to their parentage. On examining the last table 

 in this paper, it will be seen that tliese colours can only be produced by 

 parents of certain colours. A search through the last half dozen volumes of 

 the " Herd Book " reveals only a few cases to upset our conclusions, and 

 in ueai'ly all tliese cases one or other parent was red, a colour, as we have 

 shown, exceedingly liable to error of description. These suggestions as 

 to the constitution of yellow and dun are also supported by the colours 

 reported among tlie descendants of the extinct British light dun breeds 

 during their absorption by other breeds. The descendants of light duns 

 that were absorbed by red breeds passed through a yellow stage, while those 

 absorbed by black breeds passed through a dun stage. The Sufiolks and the 

 Galloways are instances. 



Let us now return to the brindles, some of which, as already remarked, 

 are apparently hybrids between blacks and reds ; but which, if such, show 

 that the blacks or the reds or both among Highlanders are different from 

 other blacks and reds. It will be noticed on referring to Table I, that, but 

 for the presence of a few intruding yellows, brindles, and duns, the blacks and 

 the reds, when bred to themselves, behave as they do in other breeds ; and 

 again, on referring to Table II, that the reds behave like other reds, excepting 

 for the presence of 14 brindles and 9 duns. The readiest explanation is that 

 some of the reds concerned were really brindles, and some were so light in 

 colour as to be mistaken for yellows. 



But what as to the suggestion that there may be a new kind of red 

 or black among the Highlanders ? It is very striking that the otlier 

 breeds in which brindles occur are breeds which include only a very few 

 blacks or none at all, but which include some cattle so nearly black that 

 some ingenuity is exercised in getting other names than black to dis- 

 tinguish them. Tliose other breeds are the Longhorn and the Jerse}\ 

 Among the Longhorns there are " plums " and " mulberrys," and the 

 plums are sometimes entered as " black or plum." A search through 



