Bantams. 125 



the naked space round the eyes, the comb, and wattles are 

 scarlet, The hen closely resembles a brown hen of the 

 Game breed, except in being very mnch smaller. That 

 this bird, or its continental ally, is one of the sources — 

 perhaps the main source — of our domestic race, cannot be 

 doubted. It inter-breeds freely with our common poultry, 

 and the progeny is fertile. Most beautiful cross-breeds 

 between the Bankiva jungle-fowl and Bantam may be seen 

 in the gardens of the Zoological Society." 



*' That the Bankiva jungle-fowl of Java, or its larger con- 

 tinental variety, if it be not a distinct species (and of which 

 Sir W. Jardine states that he has seen several specimens), 

 is one of the sources of our domestic breeds, cannot, we 

 think, be for a moment doubted. It would be difficult 

 to discover any difference between a clean-limbed, black- 

 breasted red Bantam-cock, and a cock Bankiva jungle-fowl. 

 Indeed, the very term Bantam goes far to prove their spe- 

 cific identity. Bantam is a town or city at the bottom of 

 a bay on the northern coast of Java ; it Avas first visited by 

 the Portuguese in 1511, at which time a great trade w^as 

 carried on by the town with Arabia, Hindostan, and China, 

 chiefly in pepper. Subsequently it fell into the hands of 

 the Dutch, and was at one time the great rendezvous for 

 European shipping. It is now a place of comparative 

 insignificance. From this it would seem that the jungle- 

 fowls domesticated and sold to the Europeans at Bantam 

 continued to be designated by the name of the place where 

 they were obtained, and in process of time the name was 

 appropriated to all our dwarfish breeds." 



Game Bantams are exact miniatures of real Game fowls, 

 in Black-breasted red. Duck-wing, and other varieties. The 

 cocks must not have the strut of the Bantam, but the bold, 

 martial bearing: of the Game cock. Their wino-s should be 

 carried closely, and their feathers be hard and close. The 

 Duck-wing cock's lower wing-coverts should be marked 

 with blue, forming a bar across each wing. 



The Sebright, or Gold and Silyer-laced Bantam, is a 

 breed with clean legs, and of most elegantly spangled 

 plumage, Avhich was bred and has been brought to great 



