EXrEKIMIiXTAL PHEASAXT-BJIEKDJXG. 543 



undeveloped, many still in the quill — habit Versicolor : two 

 Mendelian pairs coupled in each parent yet repulsing one 

 another in the same area in F. 1. An examination made at the 

 same time of the Formosan male showed the crest fully developed, 

 and an inspection of the Versicolor male showed the crest 

 undeveloped, mostly still in the quill. 



F. 1 generation is to me always the most interesting in these 

 artificial Pheasant crosses. For Mendelian segregation already 

 shows, and it is sometimes possible to select the strain of parentage 

 desired to reappear more strongly in the F. 2 generation. Also 

 F. 1 occasionally produces remarkable mosaics of sex — a sort of 

 sex-hybridism accompanied by sterility and extraordinary develop- 

 ments of plumage in the female, phenomena I will not touch upon 

 now. To illustrate more clearly the points I wish to bring to your 

 notice, here is a selection of secondaries (3rds fi'om the last primary) 

 extracted from the wings of the parent species and of all the 

 birds connected with the experiment (PI. LXIV.) : the Formosan 

 male secondai-ies have a peculiax- Vandyke pattern like a feather 

 laid on a feather, and the female secondaries of this species are 

 banded, both are extremely light in colour. The Versicolor male 

 secondaries have a mottled grey oblique banding on a very dark 

 grey ground ; the female secondaries of this species are rich 

 brown, with wide bands of darker brown ; also placed in the same 

 frame are the secondaries of F. 1 and F. 2 males and females. 

 After examining the parents' secondaries, we perceive that the 

 Versicolor male has transmitted to his female offspring of the 

 F. 1 generation the female secondaries of his species, and that 

 conversely the Formosan female has transmitted to her male 

 offspring of the F. 1 generation a pattern resembling the male 

 secondaries of her species on one vane, though not on the other 

 vane of the feather. In the F. 2 generation (" Fo xVe. xVe." 

 PI. LXV.) the influence of the Versicolor male on his female 

 offspring continues in pattern and size and more or less in colour, 

 for in F. 2 females the secondaries seem to be Versicolor, with 

 slight differences of colour not unlikely to be found between 

 individuals of the same species ; whilst the F. 2 male secondaries, 

 though most resembling Versicolor, are somewhat hybrid in size 

 and pattern, and still show slight traces of Formosan influence. 



A selection of interscapulars extracted from the parents and 

 from the two generations of the Formosan Versicolor cross is 

 shown ; the females are in one frame, the males in another, and in 

 these the same phenomena appear. Those of the F. 1 fema.les 

 seem to be Versicolor in pattern and coloui-, as also do the five 

 F. 2 females, with certain modifications that might be readily 

 found amongst individuals of a pure race (PI. LXVL). The 

 frame containing the male interscapulars shows amongst the F. 1 

 males a Formosan and also a hybrid pattern, whilst the F. 2 males 

 are also hybrid (PI. LXVII.). 



The phenomenon of pattern-transference has occuri'cd in all 

 my Pheasant crosses ; sometimes fiom the male to the female, or 



