COLOUR INIIERITAICCE IN PIGEONS. G03 



PL XXVI. figs. 2 & 4). Tlie term ' Grizzle' is restricted 

 in the 'fancy ' to Ijirds whose pigment is Blue grizzled with 

 White. 



(iii) Mealy. From the pattern point of view a Mealy is identical 

 with a Grizzle but the White coloration is to a greater or 

 lesser extent replaced by Red. A Mealy (for Mealy 

 feathers see PI. XXVI. tigs. 5 & 6 ; the birds are figured 

 on PL XXV.) may therefore show Blue and Red., or Blue, 

 Red and White. 



(iv) Blue (PL XXIII. fig. 1) is tlie colour of the Wild Rock 

 Pigeon, although in domestic breeds the. rump is not 

 necessarily white. In a Blue Chequer (PL XXIII. fig. 3) 

 the light apical portions of the feathers are of the typical 

 blue colour, the rest of the feather and the general 

 appearance of the bird being very much dnrker. A verv 

 dark Blue Chequer is almost ijlack, but this black is usuallj' 

 dull and must not be confused with the glossy black (beetle- 

 black) characteristic of a pure bhick pigeon, 

 (v) Silver is a verrj pale blue with black bars and " dun " flights. 

 In a Blue pigeon the flights are black (PL XXIII. fig. 2). 



(vi) Red. A Red pigeon is deep red all over including the flights 

 and tail. In a Red Chequer the dark portion of the 

 feathers are of the normal red and the light apical spots 

 white. The flights and tail are white. 



It must be i-emembered that all these varieties show considerable 

 differences in shades of colour, and in the intensity and abundance 

 of the pattern naarkings. In this paper, however, we do not 

 propose to enter into these details, important as they are. Our 

 object for the present is to separate those charactei's which follow 

 apparently a Mendelian inheritance, from those whose mode 

 of inheritance is different. Tbi.s paper therefore will only deal 

 with Mendelian inheritance, except to note in a few cases where 

 that inheritance is apparently subservient to other causes. None 

 the le,ss these differences of shade and amount of pattern do 

 obviously follow a definite law of inheritance, and they are hj no 

 means being disregarded by us, nor are we without hope of beino- 

 able at some future time to attempt some explanation of the laws 

 which govern their inheritance. 



We may point out further that in the case of Mealies and 

 Grizzles (i. e. where normally there should be a small amount of 

 white), there is a great tendency to breed out in the coui-se of a 

 few generations to practically pure white with only a few coloured 

 feathers. Our results, as far as they have gone, seem to show, 

 however, that these nearly pure white birds are still transmitting 

 to their offspring the colour which characterised their parents 

 and grandparents. 



Blues and Silver .s. 



Blue is dominant to Silver. 



A careful analysis of our results shows that Silver is in reality 

 a dilute Blue and that the colour factor in both is identical. The 



