IK) Spcmish. 



that of the Dorking. They very seldom show any inclina- 

 tion to sit, and if they hatch a brood are bad nurses. The 

 chickens are very delicate, and are best hatched at the end 

 of April and during May. They do not feather till almost 

 three-parts grown, and require a steady mother that will 

 keep with them till they are safely feathered, and therefore 

 the eggs should be set under a Dorking hen, because that 

 breed "remains longer with the chicks than any other. 

 They almost always have white feathers in the flight of the 

 wings, l)ut these become l^lack. 



"hi purchasing Spanish fowls," says an excellent 

 authority, ''blue legs, the entire absence of white or 

 coloured feathers in the plumage, and a large white face, 

 with a very large, high comb, Avhich should be erect in the 

 cock, though pendent in the hen, should be insisted on.'* 

 Legginess is a fault that breeders must be careful to avoid. 



the cockerels show the white face earlier than the 

 pullets, and a blue, shrivelly appearance in the face of the 

 chickens is a better sign of future whiteness than a red 

 fleshiness. Pullets are rarely fully whitefaced till above a 

 year old. " The white face," says an excellent authority, 

 " should always extend well around the eye, and up to the 

 point of junction with the comb, though a line of short 

 black feathers is there frequently seen to intrude its un- 

 desired presence. It is certainly objectionable, and the 

 less of it the better ; but any attempt to remove or disguise 

 this eyesore should be followed by immediate disqualifica- 

 tion."^ Some exhibitors of Spanish shave the down of the 

 edges of the white-face, in order to make it smooth and 

 larger. This disgraceful practice is not allowed at the 

 Birmingham Show. 



" One test of condition," sa3'S Mr. Baily, " more par- 

 ticularly of the pullets, is the state of the coml), which will 

 be red, soft, and developed, just in proportion to the con- 

 dition of the ])ird. While moulting— and they are almost 

 naked during this process — the coml) entirely shrivels up." 



The White-faced White Spanish is thought to be merely 

 a sport of the White-faced Black Spanish. But, whatever 

 their origin may have been, they possess every indication of 



