ils; but when the female Manx
was crossed by common male cats all the kittens had tails, though they
were generally short and imperfect.[143]

In making reciprocal crosses between pouter and fantail pigeons, the
pouter-race seemed to be prepotent through both sexes over the fantail.
But this is probably due to weak power in the fantail rather than to
any unusually strong power in the pouter, for I have observed that
barbs also preponderated over fantails. This weakness of transmission
in the fantail, though the breed is an ancient one, is said[144] to be
general; but I have observed one exception to the rule, namely, in a
cross between a fantail and laugher. The most curious instance known to
me of weak power in both sexes is in the trumpeter pigeon. This breed
has been well known for at least 130 years: it breeds perfectly true,
as I have been assured by those who have long kept many birds: it is
characterised by a peculiar tuft of feathers over the beak, by a crest
on the head, by a most peculiar coo quite unlike that of any other
breed, and by much-feathered feet. I have crossed both sexes with
turbits of two sub-breeds, with almond tumblers, spots, and runts, and
reared many mongrels and recrossed them; and though the crest on the
head and feathered feet were inherited (as is generally the case with
most breeds), I have never seen a vestige of the tuft over the beak or
heard the peculiar coo. Boitard and Corbie[145] assert that this is the
invariable result of crossing trumpeters with any other breed:
Neumeister,[146] however, states that in Germany mongrels have been
obtained, though very rarely, which were furnished with the tuft and
would trumpet: but a pair of these mongrels with a tuft, which I
imported, never trumpeted. Mr. Brent states[147] that the crossed
offspring of a trumpeter were crossed {67} with trumpeters for three
generations, by which time the mongrels had 7-8ths of this blood in
their veins, yet the tuft over the beak did not appear. At the fourth
generation the tuft appeared, but the birds, though now having 15-16ths
trumpeter's blood, still did not trumpet. This case well shows the wide
difference between inheritance and prepotency; for here we have a
well-established old race which transmits it characters faithfully, but
which, when crossed with any other race,