, OF PIGEONS AND FOWLS. 269 



Darwin coolly advance such a proposition, when he is 

 desirous of having the argument of sterility go for 

 nothing. 



"It is a singular fact," says Darwin, p. 305, Vol. i, 

 "that the males, in certain sub-breeds (of Fowls), have 

 lost their x secondary masculine characters ; and, from 

 their close resemblance in plumage to the females, 

 are often called 'hennies.'- There is much diversity 

 of opinion, whether these males are, in any degree, 

 sterile ; that they, sometimes, are partially sterile, seems 

 clear, but this may have been caused by too close-in- 

 terbreeding." 



The mere absence of the said characters explains 

 the sterility, partial or total. Each degree, of loss or 

 of reduction of characters, entails lessened fertility, 

 until that amount of modification is reached, which is 

 the maximum compatible with any reproduction; then 

 total sterility sets in. 



"An experienced writer remarks," says Darwin, p. 

 155, Vol. ii, "that the same amateur (in Fowls), as is 

 well-known, seldom long maintains the superiority of 

 his birds ; and this, he adds, undoubtedly is due to all 

 his stock 'being of the same blood;' hence, it is indis- 

 pensable, that he should occasionally procure a bird of 

 another strain. But, this is not necessary, with those 

 who keep a stock of fowls, at different stations. Thus, 

 Mr. Bollance, ,who has bred Malays, for thirty years, 

 and has won more prizes with these birds, than any 

 other fancier, in England, says, the breeding in-and-in 

 does not necessarily cause deterioration; 'but all de- 

 pends upon how this is managed. My plan has been, 

 to keep about five or six distinct runs, and to rear 

 about two hundred or three hundred chickens each 

 year, and select the best birds from each run for cross- 



