1908.] 



INHERITANCE OF COLOUR IX PIGEONS. 



females. Professor Whitman also informed Mr. Bateson that in 

 certain of his crosses between species of Doves white females may 

 be produced when the father is white, though the reciprocal cross 

 gives all coloured birds. 



Unfortunately no sufficient record of the sexes produced in the 

 cases of the Barb-Fantail Crossbred birds was made ; and in order 

 to establish a comparison with these other cases, it would be 

 necessary to show that among the whites here produced there 

 was an excess of females. 



Mesults of mating together Blue birds ivith vjhite feathers, raised in 

 Exps. 13 and 16 resjiectively. (See Table III.) 



Exp. 24.— Blue w. f. $ 5 x Blue w. f. J 4. 



Exp. 25.— Blue w. f. $ 10 x Blue w. f. ^ 11. 



These four birds were raised in Exp. 13. The results of the 

 matings were 6 blues with white feathers and 2 whites. Ko blue 

 birds without white feathers were raised (c/. Exp. 11). One of 

 the birds (48), however, had only a few white feathers on the 

 rump, vent, and thighs; and another (17) had white in the same 

 position with a few under tail-coverts. The bird having the 

 maximum development of white (55) showed a few white feathers 

 on the head, neck, rump, vent, and a little mottling on the breast, 

 4 white flights, 4 wliite tail-feathers, and a few under tail-coverts 

 and other wing-coverts. The amount of white in this bird is not 

 so much as in the bird showing the maximum development of 

 white in Exp. 13. In addition to the bii-ds included in the Table 

 a bird was hatched in Exp. 24 which died in the ne.st when very 

 young. It was of a distinct reddi.sh tinge with some white 

 feathers, having tail and flights " blackish." It is probable that 

 this was " kitiness " {v. ante), and the bird would have eventually 

 been blue with white. Only two birds were raised from Exp. 25. 

 These were blue with some white feathers. There is no doubt 

 however that, had the mating been continued, white birds would 

 have appeared as in Exp. 25. 



Table III. 



