MORGAN AND GOOD ALE, INHERITANCE IN POULTRY H5 



feet are gray. The shanks, moreover, are provided with several rows of 

 feathers, or boot, along the outer edge. The comb is single. 



The Barred Plymouth Bocks (Plate XVII, figs. 1 and 4; Plate XVIII, 

 figs. 3, 4, 5, 6) are black and white,- the two colors being arranged in 

 alternate bars across the long axis of each feather. The bars vary some- 

 what in evenness, width and depth of color from individual to individual, 

 and also in different sections of the same bird. Although the American 

 "Standard of Perfection" requires that the two sexes shall be alike in 

 color, the males vary from a darker to a very light color, often appearing 

 very light gray, while the females, though to a less marked extent, vary 

 toward a darker shade. In other words, the breed tends strongly toward 

 a sexual dimorphism of color, with indications of a secondary dimor- 

 phism within each sex. The comb is single, and the yellow shanks are 

 free from feathers. 



History of the Breeds. — The modern Langshans are the direct de- 

 scendants of a very old race brought from the interior of China. The 

 Eocks, on the other hand, resulted from a mixture of several races of 

 fowls about forty years ago, which have been gradually brought to a 

 high degree of perfection. The history of the barred character with 

 which we are chiefly concerned is obscure, but evidently it is of very 

 great antiquity, for barred or "cuckoo" birds are to be found in many 

 European countries, Eussia included. Brown (1906) states that the 

 plumage of the "Siberian Featherfooted fowl is generally white, whilst 

 others have cuckoo plumage." He notes also that this variety is said to 

 be of ancient lineage. Wright (1902) states that it is probable that the 

 "original Chittagongs, or at least their crossed offspring, were of an 

 'owl' color as described, probably what we now know as cuckoo or barred." 

 The Chittagongs came from the district of that name in the upper Malay 

 peninsula. An exhaustive search would probably show that barred fowls 

 have been recorded from southeastern Asia. 



Source of Breeding Stock Used. — The Langshans came from P. P. 

 Ives of Guilford, Conn. Two of the three Barred Eock males and one of 

 the females were of the well-known Latham strain, but obtained from 

 B. C. Goodale. Four of the barred females were the progeny of the 

 Latham hen by a White Eock male, one was an F 2 from a similar mating, 

 and one was a pure bred female from a Stamford breeder. The White 

 Eock male is known to differ from the barred birds chiefly in the absence 

 of the chromogen factor. 



Matings. — In the majority of these matings, the progenies of the indi- 

 vidual mothers have not been kept separate. The determinations of the 



2 Fanciers prefer to speak of both these colors as grayish. 



