TECHNICAL TERMS. 



237 



exhibitors than upon anything else. There 

 are exhibitors and judges both, well known or 

 who can be known, with whom it is no credit 

 to be on particularly intimate terms ; there are 

 many shows, ascertainable by inquiry, which 

 the genuine amateur should refuse to support 

 by his entries. Mere declamation is of no 

 use ; it is the quiet performance of one's own 

 duty as it comes in one's way, on the side of 

 justice, that is required ; and to have largely 

 modified public feeling in this direction is 

 not the least of the good work which the press 

 and the Poultry Club have effected during 

 recent years. 



Before passing to detailed treatment of 

 various breeds, it will be convenient to present 

 a glossary of the technical terms constantly 

 employed by fanciers and breeders, with a 

 diagram to assist in their clefinitioii. 



Barred^ Barring. — Alternate stripes of light and dark 



across a feather. 

 Bean. — A bean-like patch on the extreme tip of the 



upper mandible of some varieties of ducks and 



geese. 

 Beard. — .A bunch of feathers under the throat of some 



breeds, as Houdans or Polish. 

 Blocky. — A word used to describe a thick-set, 



squarely built bird with legs placed wide apart. 

 Brassy. — A term used to indicate that the plunuige 



of a barred Plymouth Rock has become dis- 

 coloured, or burnished, owing to exposure to 



weather or sun. 

 Breast. — In a live fowl, the front of the body above 



the point of the breast-bone up to the throat. 



(Xo. 6.) In a table fowl (dead) the breast is 



below this, and would be called the under part 



of the body in the live bird. 

 Breed. — Any variety of fowl in all its distinct char- 

 acteristics. The breed includes all the varieties 



of colour which are found in it. 

 Brood. — The family of chickens under one hen or 



brooder. 

 Broody. — Desiring to sit or incubate. 

 Cape. — The feathers under base of the back hackles, 



between the shoulders. 

 Carriage.^Th.^ bearing, attitude, or " style " of a 



bird. 

 Caruncles. — Fleshy protuberances, as on the neck of 



a turkey-cock. 

 Chick. — A newly hatched fowl. Used only till a few 



weeks old. 

 Chicken. — This word is often applied to any age in- 

 definitely until tw-elve months old. 

 Cockerel. — .A young cock. 

 Comb. — The red protuberance on the top of a fowl's 



head. (No. i. Fig. 84.) 

 Condition. — The state of the fowl as regards health 



and beauty of plumage — the latter especially. 

 Crest. — .\ crown or tuft of feathers on the head. The 



same as Top-knot. 

 Crop. — The bag or receptacle in which food is stored 



before digestion. Can be easily felt in any fowl 



after feeding. 



Cushion. — The mass of feathers over the tail-end of a 

 hen's back, covering the tail ; chiefly develojied 

 in Cochins. 



Deaf-ears. — Same as Ear-lobes. (No. 4.) 



Diamond. — A term sometimes applied by Game 

 breeders to the wing-bay. (No. 15.) 



Ditbbing. — Cutting off the comb, wattles, etc., so as 

 to leave the head smooth and clean. 



Duck-footed. — Having duck-like feet, i.e., a fowl 

 with the hind toe placed close to the inner side 

 of the foot instead of being in a line with the 

 middle toe, and pointing straight behind. The 

 term is generally used in connection with game 

 fowls. 



Ear-lobes. — The folds of skin hanging below the 

 ears. They vary in colour in different breeds, 

 between red, white, blue, and cream, and also 

 greatly in size. (No. 4.) 



Face. — The bare skin round the eye. (No. 2.) 



Flights. — The primary feathers of the w'ing, used in 

 flying, but tucked under the wing out of sight 

 when at rest. (No. 17.) 



Fluff. — Soft downy feathers about the thighs, chiefly 

 developed in Asiatics ; also the downy part of the 

 feather. 



Foxy. — Birds of the black-red varieties, particularly 

 brown Leghorn liens, are said to be ■' foxy " when 

 the wing colour is very dark red, and which 

 looks 'hard" when compared with the softer 

 body colour. 



Furnished. — Assumed the full characters. When a 

 cockerel has obtained his full tail, comb, hackles, 

 etc., as if adult, he is said to be "furnished." 



Gills. — This term is often applied to the wattles, and 

 sometimes more indefinitely to the whole region 

 of the throat. 



Gipsy-faced. — A fowl is so designated when the skin 

 of its face is of a dark purple or mulberry 

 colour ; or when it is covered with short hair- 

 like feathers. 



Hackles. — The peculiar narrow feathers on the neck 

 of fowls, also found in the saddle of the cock. 

 In the latter case they are called " saddle " 

 hackles or feathers; hackles alone always refer- 

 ring to the neck-feathers. (No. 5.) 



Hen-feathered, or //(?«w/..— Resembling a hen in the 

 absence of sickles or hackle-feathers, and in 

 plumage generally. 



Hock. — The joint between the thigh and the shank. 

 (No. 19.) 



Keel. — The vertical part of the breast-bone. Also 

 applied to dependent flesh and skin below the 

 latter, as in many ducks. 



Knock-kneed. — The hocks standing near together, in- 

 stead of well apart. 



Laced, Lacing. — A stripe or edging all round z 

 feather, of some colour different from its ground 

 colour, as in Sebrights and Wyandottes. 



Leader. — .\ single spike terminating the "rose" type 

 of comb, as in Hamburghs, Wyandottes and 

 Rosecomb Bantams, etc. 



Leg. — In a live fowl this is the scaly part, or shank. 

 In a bird dressed for table, on the contrary, the 

 term refers, as is well known, to the joints above. 



Leg-feathers. — The feathers projecting from the 

 outer side of the shanks in some breeds, as 

 Cochins. 



Mealiness. — Used to denote defective buff colour, 

 when the plumage, instead of being one level 

 tone, is spotted with white. 



