| → are 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
| seem to me 1859 1860 |
|
| → and has a white croup 1861 1866 |
| and has a white rump 1859 1860 |
| with white loins; 1869 |
| with white loins; but 1872 |
|
| → having it bluish); the 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
| having this part bluish; the 1869 |
| has this part bluish. The 1872 |
|
| → bases of the 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
| OMIT 1869 1872 |
|
| → with white; the 1859 1860 1861 1866 |
| at the base with white; the 1869 |
| at the base with white. The 1872 |
|
| → or more distinct 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
| distinct 1859 1860 |
|
| → To give one instance out of several which I have observed: — 1861 1866 1869 1872 |
| for instance, 1859 1860 |
|
| ↑ 1 blocks not present in 1861 1866 1869 1872; present in 1859 1860 |
| uniformly
white fantails with some uniformly black barbs, and they produced mottled brown and black birds; these I again crossed together, and one grandchild of the pure white fantail and pure black barb was of as beautiful a blue colour, with the white rump, double black wing-bar, and barred and white-edged tail-feathers, as any wild rock-pigeon!
|
|
|
of the pouter; for tail-feathers like those of the fantail. Hence it must be assumed not only that
man succeeded in thoroughly domesticating several species, but that he intentionally or by chance picked out extraordinarily abnormal species; and further, that these very species have since all become extinct or unknown. So many strange contingencies
→are
improbable in the highest degree. |
|
| Some facts in regard to the colouring of pigeons well deserve consideration. The rock-pigeon is of a slaty-blue,
→and has a white croup
Indian sub-species, C.
of Strickland,
→having it bluish); the
tail has a terminal dark bar, with the
→bases of the
outer feathers externally edged
→with white; the
wings have two black
semi-domestic
and some
truly wild
have, besides the two black bars, the wings chequered with black. These several marks do not occur together in any other species of the whole family. Now, in every one of the domestic breeds, taking thoroughly well-bred birds, all the above marks, even to the white edging of the outer tail-feathers, sometimes concur perfectly developed. Moreover, when
birds belonging to two
→or more distinct
breeds are crossed,
of which
blue or
any of the above-specified marks, the mongrel offspring are very apt suddenly to acquire these
→To give one instance out of several which I have observed: —
I crossed
↑
fantails, which breed very true, with some black barbs — and it so happens that blue varieties of barbs are so rare that I never heard of an instance in England; and the mongrels were black, brown, and mottled. I also crossed a barb with a spot, which is a white bird with a red tail and red spot on the forehead, and which notoriously breeds very true; the mongrels were dusky and mottled. I then crossed one of the
|
