88 ME. R. STAPLES-BROWNE ON [Feb. 18^ 



Exp. 29.— F. 4 Blue w. f. $ 15 x F. 3 Black c? 109. 



The $ 15 was raised in Exp. 11, and had previously been shown 

 to contain white {v. Exps. 19 & 22). 



The (S 109, raised in Exp. 8, was black with no white. This 

 bird had not been previously bred from, but seeing that no whites 

 were produced in this experiment we may conclude that it did not 

 contain white. 



The result of the mating gave 8 young, of which 4 were black 

 and 4 blue. Of the blacks two (IS'os. 50 & 65) showed very few 

 white feathers at the vent. No white was seen anywhere else on 

 the plumage. Another black bird (No. 49) was rather light or 

 sooty in colour, as already described in Exp. 27, and very slight 

 indications of a tail-bar were noticed. None of the blue birds 

 showed any white. 



Exp. 30.— F. 2 Blue $ 14 X Black w. f. c? 46. 



Exp. 31.— F. 2 Black w. f. $ 106 x F. 3 Blue w. f. c^ 13. 



The $ 14 was raised in Exp. 3. The c? 46 was raised in 

 Exp. 12 from F. 1 X white. Neither of these birds had been 

 previously bred from. This experiment, however, showed that 

 they both contained white. 



The $ 106 was I'aised in Exp. 5, and has been shown in 

 Exp. 8 to contain white. The d 13 was raised in Exp. 9, and 

 was shown in Exp, 1 1 to contain white. The total result of the 

 two matings was 2 Blacks, 5 Blues, 3 Blues with white feathers, 

 and 7 Whites. The blues from both matings were lighter in colour 

 than in the preceding experiments, the sooty colour of the wings 

 being of a much bluer shade than in the typical blue, and in 

 some cases being replaced by blue chequered with black. The 

 wing-bars were very distinct. Where white feathers were present 

 they were very few in number and were confined to the rump, 

 vent, and thighs. 



Results of mating together Macks from Exp. 27 a7id Blues 

 from Exp. 30 respectively, 



Exp. 32.— Black $ 12 x Black S 1. 



These two birds were raised in Exp. 27, and both w^-ere without 

 any white feathers. The plumage of both was somewhat smoky, 

 and slight traces of wing-bars could be discerned. From this 

 mating 12 birds wei-e hatched. Of these, however, 4 died under 

 the age of one week. The colour of the plumage could not be 

 ascertained. The 8 birds reared consisted of 7 blacks and 1 blue. 

 Of the blacks, one is of a deep rich plumage showing no traces of 

 bars. Four are of a sooty-black colour with the wing-bars very 

 distinct. In one of these a tail-bar is also seen. The remainder 

 are sooty-black with no, or very slight, indications of bars. It is 

 most probable that, if these birds were bred from, the sooty- 

 coloured specimens with wing-bars would be shown to contain 

 blue, whilst the deep black with no traces of wing-bars would 

 prove to be homozygous. 



