324 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



looser than that of a Game bird, but not going 

 to the fluffiness of a Cochin. 



" So much for the male bird. Regarding 

 hens or pullets, there are of course many fea- 

 tures, such as comb, legs, colour, etc., which, 

 allowing for the differences of sex, are just the 

 same as in the cocks. Shape is perhaps the 

 only thing that requires an additional word or 

 two of explanation. There should be no 

 straight lines in the outline of a good pullet ; 

 she should be, as I once heard a Yankee fancier 

 say, ' A succession of curves.' Faults to be 

 especially guarded against in the shape of 

 females are hollow backs, squirrel or too long 

 tails, lack of depth, and harshness of general 

 outline. 



" From the spot where the neck hackles meet 

 the shoulders to the tip of the tail there should 

 be one gradual, gentle slope upwards, and the 

 tail itself should just protrude, short and 

 wedge-shaped, from the cushion feathers. The 

 cushion itself need be only just perceptible, not 

 by any means like that of a black Orpington ; 

 but still, if it be there, it lends an added effect 

 to a pullet's appearance. 



" Be careful not to breed from single- 

 combed birds, weak-kneed or narrow-chested 

 males, green-legged ones, or even those that 

 have many green flecks on their shanks. Select 

 a male always that is as near perfection as you 

 can obtain, but search him well for his faults 

 (and mind, these exist in every bird). When 

 mating him, take care that his wives do not 

 possess the same faults, for, believe me, the 

 bad points will perpetuate themselves without 

 any trouble ; but this is not always the case, 

 alas ! with the good points. 



" Finally, though double mating is abso- 

 lutely unnecessary with white Wyandottes, and 

 once you have a reliable strain good birds will 

 crop up not infrequently, please do not imagine 

 the variety is as easy to breed to perfection as 

 shelling peas. Such is not the case, and there 

 is plenty of scope yet for new breeders." 



Next to the White, among the self-coloured 

 members of the Wyandotte family, the Black 

 is the most popular. The reason is not far to 



seek, for the handsome contrast 

 The Black of red headpoints .with rich 



Wyandotte. orange beak and legs and bright 



beetle - green black plumage, 

 makes a most attractive fowl. It is, moreover, 

 well suited for its colour, docile disposition, 

 and is a capital winter-layer to the poultry- 

 keeper with limited accommodation and sur- 

 roundings where the lighter plumage varieties 

 would soon become dirty and unsightly. 



Black Wyandottes have long been favourites 

 in America, and curiously enough also in Hol- 

 land ; but it was not until IQ06 and 1907, fol- 

 lowing on correspondence in The Feathered 

 World, that a decided boom took place in 

 them in this country, and with a powerful 

 specialist club formed in its interests the Black 

 Wyandotte has a bright future. 



As to type, the Black should be a true 

 Wyandotte so as to differentiate it as far as 

 possible from a Black Rock, and in other 

 points allowing for colour the remarks on the 

 White hold good. The yellow legs and beak, 

 combined with sound black plumage, are the 

 chief difficulties to be surmounted. Some 

 breeders adopt double-mating ; but others 

 equally successful breed from the one pen 

 only, and in the best interests of the variety it 

 is to be hoped that this latter system will be 

 generally followed. 



Buff Wyandottes are avowedly cross-made 

 birds, and were produced independently both 

 in America and England. The first American 

 birds were exhibited at Liverpool 

 Buff in 1893, but English strains were 



Wyandottes. already in existence or being 

 formed at that time. In America 

 they were produced by crossing Silver Wyan- 

 dottes both with Buff Cochins, and in some 

 quarters with Rhode Island Reds, an American 

 yellow-legged amalgam of Cochin and local 

 stock, very similar to our own white-legged 

 Lincolnshire Buff, now known as Buff Orping- 

 ton. In England the Silver Wyandottes and 

 Buff Cochin were chiefly employed. Owing to 

 this further cross of the Cochin, Buff Wyan- 

 dottes are rather apt to manifest more pro- 

 pensity to sitting than the other varieties ; but 

 m spite of this are remarkably good layers. 



In regard to breeding the plumage, nothing 

 need be added to what has been already stated 

 in treating Buff Cochins, Rocks, and Orping- 

 tons. As in the case of Rocks, the yellow 

 shanks and beaks required, make the colour 

 rather easier to breed than it is in Buff Or- 

 pingtons. The variety, as is natural, seems 

 scarcely to hold its own in competition with 

 Orpingtons and Buff Rocks. 



Partridge Wyandottes should have the exact 

 colour and pencilling of the Partridge Cochin, 

 with the shape and comb and legs of the 

 Wyandotte family. They are of 

 Partridge comparatively recent origin, but 



Wyandottes. have become popular rapidly, and 

 seem likely to remain so ; the fact 

 is that there is a natural fitness between certain 

 breeds and certain colours, and the Partridge 

 markmg, or rather the colour which now passes 



