Page:The Evolution of British Cattle.djvu/111

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THE MELTING-POT
99

these, Br 
/ 
Br
; or these, BrBr. Consequently, from a sufficient number of matings a quarter of the calves are pure black, BB; a half are masquerading blacks, Br; and a quarter are pure red, rr.


Again, when black masqueraders are bred back to pure black cattle, one half their progeny are pure black, the other half masqueraders. Thus BB
/
Br
gives two pure blacks, BB; and two masqueraders, Br.


Further, when black masqueraders are bred back to red, one half their progeny are masqueraders, the other half are red. Br
/
rr
gives two masqueraders, Br, and two reds, rr.


These black masqueraders cause confusion, since they cannot be separated from the pure black ones by the naked eye; but, like the intermediate roans, they may also be the means of transmitting a colour from one set of cattle to another. For instance, red cattle of North Devon type were taken to the south of Ireland a century ago, or more, and crossed with the native black Kerry cattle. The result of the crossing and