100 THE AMEBIC AN NATURALIST [Vol. LII 



cells in these barbules are more heavily pigmented than 

 is true of the rest of the feather and the granules are rod 

 shaped. In the regions where the black is giving way to 

 blue, both round and rod-shaped granules are found. 



All pigmented feathers secured from several blue- 

 splashed females show identically the same pigment ar- 

 rangement and granule shape as predominates in the 

 blues. This holds true whether the portion examined 

 comes from a feather that, is pigmented throughout, or 

 from one that is almost wholly white, with but a trace of 

 pigment showing. In feathers which are pigmented 

 throughout, the same relation regarding the lacing occurs 

 as in homologous feathers in blue females. 



The statements of the foregoing paragraph apply 

 equally well to the feathers of those sections of the blue- 

 splashed male which are blue in the blue male. 



As previously mentioned, in both blue-splashed and 

 blues, as well as in other self-colored races, black flecking 

 or spotting not infrequently appears. Such spots, whether 

 taken from a blue feather from a blue individual, or from 

 a blue or an almost white feather from a blue-splashed 

 bird, invariably show rod-shaped granules, while the sur- 

 rounding area, if blue-gray, shows round granules. These 

 spots are apparently entirely independent of the factors 

 and conditions discussed in this paper and their appear- 

 ance is comparatively limited. If hereditary, they prob- 

 ably depend on other factors. In handling blues and 

 blue-splashed, however, one can not help being impressed 

 with the possibility that these spots are caused by some 

 interference with the full expression of the factors re- 

 sponsible for the arrangement and rounding of the pig- 

 ment granules. Whether this interference is hereditary 

 or environmental is as yet undetermined. 



One further fact concerning the blue Andalusian males, 

 already alluded to, is of interest. The long feathers of 

 the neck (hackle) and saddle are glossy black. This is 

 apparently a secondary sexual characteristic, though it is 

 as yet undetermined whether it is due to the presence of 



