Makch 3, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



337 



■which (griseola) proves to be only a slightly 

 differentiated subspecies of C. passerina. 

 For many years, or until the custom came in 

 of recognizing subspecies, the real status of 

 griseola was that of a synonym of passerina, 

 which up to a recent date" had a commonly 

 recognized range extending from the warmer 

 parts of the United States south through the 

 West Indies, Central America and South 

 America to Paraguay and Peru, thus includ- 

 ing the type locality of griseola. When the 

 original passerina came to be divided into 

 numerous subspecies, griseola, as recognized 

 by recent leading authorities, became Chwme- 

 pelia passerina griseola. 



In my paper cited above I stated that I 

 could " see no reason why Colurnbina grise- 

 ola ^ C olumhina passerina griseola (Spix) 

 may not be properly taken as the type of 

 Oolumhina, in accordance with rule d of Art. 

 30 of the International Code respecting the 

 equal availability of species and subspecies as 

 types." I find it is now questioned whether 

 this statement, owing to its form, can be taken 

 as really designating a type for Columhina, 

 and take this opportunity of stating that this 

 was its intention. To leave no doubt, I may 

 here add: Golurnbina Spix, 1825; type G. 

 griseola Spix = Columhina passerina griseola 

 Spix. 



But there are other complications hovering 

 about the type of Colurnbina, and about the 

 propriety of the above designation, on the 

 ground that the question is one partly of zool- 

 ogy and partly of nomenclature. In other 

 words, that griseola may not be a subspecies 

 of passerina but possibly a distinct species, 

 or a subspecies of some other species. This 

 question could not well have arisen ex- 

 cept for a mistake made by Bonaparte, in 

 1854, and followed by nearly all authors 

 for the next half century. He recognized 

 and described a species under the name 

 " griseola Spix " which was not only not the 

 griseola of Spix but bears to it no very 

 close relationship, it being in reality the 

 Golumha minuta of Linnaeus. To this extent, 



'Cf. Salvadori, Brit. Mus. Cat. Birds, XXI., 

 i893, p. 477. 



and no further, is the type of Columhina a 

 question of zoology; for the type of griseola 

 Spix is stUl extant and proves to be a young 

 female of the passerina group, or of " pas- 

 serina" as formerly recognized.' 



J. A. Allen 



'ANOTHER SEX-LIMITED CHARACTER IN FOWLS 



In view of the number of sex-limited char- 

 acters recently recorded, the report of another 

 one may be of interest even though the ex- 

 periment has not yet gone beyond the first 

 generation. 



The Brown Leghorn fowl has nearly the 

 same color as the wild Callus hanhiva. It is 

 a sexually dimorphic breed, with black and 

 reddish or yellowish-bay the chief colors in the 

 male, and with the female lighter in color and 

 showing a characteristic black and yellowish- 

 brovTn pepper-and-salt pattern on the back and 

 wings. The Columbian Wyandotte has both 

 sexes white, with black in the neck, wings and 

 tail. 



When these two breeds were crossed there 

 were three different classes of birds in the Fj 

 generation. There were brown females re- 

 sembling the Brown Leghorn females, and 

 gray males and females resembling the Co- 

 lumbian Wyandottes but having considerable 

 black mixed with the white ground color, thus 

 giving a grayish effect. These came in the 

 following way: 

 Brown Leghorn (J -1- Columbian Wyandotte 5 



= 10 gray ^ and 8 brown $. 

 Columbian Wyandotte c? -)- Brown Leghorn $ 



= 9 gray ^ and 3 gray $. 



It will be seen that these results agree with 

 Goodale's experiment,' since the gray males 

 show considerable red or brown on their backs, 

 as was the case with the corresponding birds 

 in his cross between White Rocks and Brovsm 

 Leghorns. 



The gray females, however, unlike his barred 

 F, females, also show a little brown, though 

 this is not conspicuous. They also show some 



" Cf. Hellmayr, AbhandL d. II. Kl. d. k. Akad. 

 Wiss., XXIL, Abb. iii, 1906, p. 697. 



^ Proo. 8oo. Exp. Biol, and Med., Vol. 7, No. 5, 

 May 18, 1910. 



