SILVER LACED WYANDOTTES. 



317 



race for perfection of markings, and for the 

 more modern fashion of open centres, shape has 

 not always been sufficiently considered by some 

 breeders, who find that their customers insist 

 upon clear and open lacing as a jirst considera- 

 tion in all purchases. But calling to memory 

 the great winners of a few years ago, there is 

 little room in their case for complaint as to their 

 shape. Those who saw the winning Silver 

 cockerel at the Dairy in 1897, and the unstinted 

 admiration accorded to him, will remember that 

 he was not perfectly marked, his hackle running 

 rather dark, and his breast showing faint signs 

 of splashing at the base ; but he had a beautiful 

 outline, and was an immense blocky cockerel, 

 rather on the dark side, with massive frame, 

 thick legs, and green-black sheeny lacing. £10 

 was offered and refused for him, and I myself 

 heard an interested American remark : ' My ! 

 isn't he a Jimmy Dandy .'' ' The same may be 

 said of the winning Silver cockerels at the 

 Dairy and Palace shows of 1S98, and in a still 

 greater degree of the two magnificent Gold 

 cockerels that won first and second at the same 

 two shows in 1899; the sensation they caused 

 still pulsates in the fancy. There might also be 

 cited the White Challenge Cup cock of 1899, 

 and the White and Buff winners at the Dairy in 

 1900. Whilst these may seem ancient history, 

 they are yet winners that most fanciers of the 

 breed have seen, of which no one can dispute 

 the standard shape and excellence ; and we may 

 not judge the progress of a breed by the common 

 run, but by the best specimens. 



" So far then as either ideal, or as the best 

 actual birds go, shape is not different with us ; 

 but amongst the rank and file of the classes there 

 may be some justification for the complaint, and 

 it should be heeded. There are two causes 

 which partially account for narrow long backs 

 and undeveloped breasts. One is an excess of 

 in-breeding ; the other, mating together stock 

 which is too young. The best breeders are now 

 aware of the effects of this, and are more careful 

 in their matings. 



" Passing now to the divisions of the Wyan- 

 dotte, and beginning with the Silver Laced, let us 

 clearly understand what is meant by its distin- 

 guishing attribute, the silver-laced feather. Such 

 feathers we find on the breast, fluff, and thighs 

 of the cock, and on the body of the hen. We 

 may define it as a white feather edged round 

 with black ; the centre should be pure white, and 

 not a creamy tint, and the edging quite black in 

 a true light, side-light often showing up the 

 black with a lustre of beetle-green. This adds 

 to the quality ; but if the black shows a tendency 

 to grey, it is deemed a fault in proportion as the 



green sheen is looked upon as an acquisition. 

 The laced feather should be broad, but the lacing 

 itself narrow ; the broader the feather and the 

 narrower the lacing, providing the combination 

 possesses the distinct black and white, the 

 better. Naturally the feathers at the shoulders 

 and at the base of the hackle in pullets are 

 narrower than the cushion and breast feathers, 

 and it is quite impossible to obtain a bird in 

 which the lacings are put on equidistantly all 

 through ; yet the nearer we can get to the ideal 

 of equal and level lacing, the better. 



" There are various kinds of faulty laced 

 feathers to be found ; and as it frequently helps 

 the imagination, and impresses the true ideal 

 feather more vividly on the mind to study the 

 matter in that way, let us see what these faults 

 are. 



" I. The double-laced feather. — This is a 

 feather with a frosted edging, or an outside 

 fringe of white bordering the black (Fig. 100*). 

 The black lacing should be clean cut, and show 

 no white on the border. It is not often that we 

 find the double-laced feather on the back or 

 wings of the female, but it is frequently seen on 

 the breast, and more especially at the throat. 

 This fault is very difficult to eradicate. Cocks in 

 many cases exhibit the same weakness, but not 

 generally in so marked a degree as the females. 



'■ 2. The spangled or horse-shoe feather is a 

 worse fault than the double-laced feather. The 

 term means that the lacing does not run round 

 all the feather, but only partly round it in the 

 form of a crescent (Fig. loi). Breeding from 

 light-coloured stock is chiefly to blame for this 

 defect. Again, it is at the throat, and on the 

 breast of the hen, that we most frequently 

 discover this weakness. 



" 3. The almond feather versus the rounded 

 feather. A difference of opinion did exist at 

 one time as to whether the almond-shaped 

 feather, such as we admire and breed for in 

 Sebrights (Fig. 102), or the round and broad 

 feather (Fig. 103), is the handsomer on a Wyan- 

 dotte. It is true that the best black and white 

 Wyandotte perhaps ever shown, possessed the 

 almond-shaped feather, but then the centres 

 were narrow, and a preponderance of black lac- 

 ings seemed rather to overbalance the correct 

 juxtaposition of the two colours. Hence the 

 term ' heavy-laced.' Little by little public taste 

 has come round to the broad feather, with large 

 white centre, rounded extremity, and narrow 

 lacing. If the broad-feathered specimen were 

 placed side by side with an almond-shaped one, 

 and each perfect in its respective class, nine out 

 of every ten fanciers would see more beauty in 



* These figures will be found on a separate plate. 



