SINGLE-COMB MINORCA AND DARK BRAHMA. 35 



is dead-black, being without the longitudinal stripes of the Dark Brahma 

 young, and, for the most part, without the white wing feathers and ventral 

 aspect of the young Minorca. Nevertheless, exceptionally, one finds the 

 chin and part of the throat of the young white, the head feathers may be 

 tipped with white, and in one or two instances a little white occurs on the 

 wing. The young plumage seems to be a neomorph, but on the whole it 

 belongs rather to the Minorca type than to the more primitive Game type 

 of juvenile coloration. 



2. Wing Coverts. — In 14 grown male hybrids of which I have records, a 

 more or less prominent wing bar, formed by black, red, and straw-colored 

 feathers in the third or fourth row of wing coverts, occurs (figs. 20, 21). 

 The five females are wholly black, but even in these the wing coverts are 

 barred with an iridescent purple black ; consequently a disturbance of the 

 coloration of the wing coverts may be said to be typical of the hybrids. The 

 wing bar of the Dark Brahma male dominates over the black wing of the 

 Minorca, but it dominates imperfectly. 



3 . Comb. — In all cases the pea comb of the Brahma dominates over the single 

 comb. Critical examination shows, however, that the pea comb of the 

 hybrid is not always typical. Frequently the whole structure, and espe- 

 cially the median ridge, is abnormally high (fig. 21), and, on the other hand, 

 in a few cases the lateral ridges are hard to make out. The dominance is 

 imperfect.* 



4. Earlobe Color. — The earlobe in every case contains both white and 

 red. The result is not a blend, however, but is particulate, the white 

 appearing at the center. As red is rarely wholly absent from the Minorca's 

 earlobes, whereas white is wholly absent from that of the Dark Brahma, it 

 may be possible to bring inheritance of earlobe color under the general 

 formula and speak of the white earlobe as being imperfectly dominant. 



5. Iris Color. — The iris of the hybrid is yellow, rarely with a trace of red 

 or reddish brown. The type of the Dark Brahma is dominant, but imper- 

 fectly so. 



6. Beak AND Foot Color. — This is always black in the hybrid. However, 

 the black is rarely the blue-black of the Minorca, but it is usually a brownish 

 black frequently tinged with yellow, particularly on the under side of the 

 toes. Black is imperfectly dominant. 



7. Foot Feathering. — In all cases the hybrids have feathering on the feet. 

 In many cases this is clearly reduced in amount from what is found in the 

 Dark Brahma. Foot feathering is imperfectly dominant (fig. 20). 



8. Vulture Hock. —This is absent in every case, although about a quarter 

 of the cases show the feathers of the heel much larger and more removed 



* The inheritance of the pea comb of the Dark Brahma has not been considered in the 

 recent studies of others. The pea comb of the Indian Game is found by Bateson and 

 Saunders (1902, p. 94) to be imperfectly dominant over the single comb of the White 

 I<eghorn. 



