3^4 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



a combination of quality and substance, in 

 fact be like a race-horse with plenty of 

 bone. 



"The style of the hen is similar, her beak 

 also being long and strong and nicely 

 curved ; comb small, upright, and evenly 

 serrated ; head long and rather narrow, eye 

 bold, red, and prominent, with a keen snaky 

 expression. The neck should be long, thin, 

 and fine at the throat, shoulders broad, back 

 short and flat, tail close and carried rather 

 low, wings short and carried close to the 

 sides, legs long but in no way stilty, thighs 

 nicely carried, shanks smooth and well 

 rounded, feet and legs generally as in the 

 cock. 



" We come now to the colour of the cock. 

 The beak should be dark horn. Head and 

 neck hackle a light orange red, free from 

 black stripes. Back, wing-bow, and saddle 

 a rich crimson, the saddle hackles always 

 running a shade lighter. Secondary flight 

 feathers a bright rich bay ; wing-bar a green 

 glossy black ; shoulders, breast, thighs, and 

 tail a sound black ; legs willow. When this 

 very bright top-colour as here described is 

 produced, there is a tendency for the breast, 

 hocks, and fluff" to become ticked or laced 

 with red. This is a very grave defect indeed, 

 and of the two evils I would much rather 

 tolerate a shade darker in top-colour, to have 

 the breast, hocks, and fluff absolutely black. 

 Of course the bright top-colour and a sound 

 black can be and are produced together, but 

 it requires great care in the mating, and a 

 thorough knowledge of the pedigree of the 

 birds mated. 



" The colour of the hen is as follows : 

 Head a clear gold ; neck hackle gold, slightly 

 striped with black, but running to clear gold on 

 top of the head. The breast should be a rich 

 salmon, running off to an ashy colour on the 

 thighs. Back and wings a light partridge with 

 very small and fine markings, with a slight 

 golden tinge pervading the whole. This should 

 be quite even throughout, free from ruddiness or 

 shaftiness on the sides, and no large coarse 

 pencillings on the flight feathers of the wings. 

 The tail is black except the top feathers, which 

 should match the body colour. 



" With respect to the mating of Black-Reds, 

 separate pens are required for cockerel- and 

 pullet-breeding. For cockerel-breeding a cock 

 such as above described should be used, and for 

 pullet-breeding hens of the standard colour must 

 be used. It is, in my opinion, useless to describe 

 the colour of hens to be used for cockerel-breed- 

 ing, or the colour of cocks required for pullet- 



breeding, unless we know how they are bred, as 

 the produce might be quite different." 



The following description, and notes on 

 mating for the production of this variety, are 

 by Mr. Samuel Matthew, of Haughley, near 

 Stowmarket. This gentleman was 

 Breeding ^ well-known breeder of Game for 

 Game * °^^'' sixty years, and rarely failed 

 to get near the top, until he had the 

 misfortune to lose nearly all his best birds by 

 foxes ; it will still be remembered how he bred 

 a cock claimed at the Palace in 1884 for i^ioo, 

 and which won the ;£^50 cup at the Birmingham 

 show following ; and that the following year 

 another bird, a half-brother to the one just 

 mentioned, was claimed at Birmingham for 

 a hundred guineas. 



"The Black-breasted Red cock of the 

 present day should be as follows for the show- 

 pen, and for breeding exhibition birds the same 

 points should, of course, be looked for with 

 especiivl care : The head to be long, thin, and 

 bony, well set on the neck, with beak also well 

 set on, and in no way parrot-beaked. The eyes 

 large, full and bright, red or roach-eyed, and 

 whole face lean and thin, showing what is called 

 qualit}^ Neck to be long and slightly arched, 

 tapering neatly from head to shoulders ; hackle 

 short, close, and swinging back. The back flat, 

 broad at shoulders and tapering to the stern ; 

 body short, and well cut up behind ; wings 

 powerful ; neither carried on the back nor yet 

 low on the thigh. The thighs to be long and 

 muscular, standing clear out from the body: 

 shanks round, not flat, with very fine scales ; the 

 foot large and flat, with well-spread toes, back 

 toe to stand well out behind. The plumage all 

 over short ; on top a very bright or orange red, 

 especially the hackle and saddle, which must be 

 quite free from black stripe or pencilling ; breast, 

 body, and stern perfectly black ; tail lustrous 

 black, with narrow sickles, well pointed, about 

 eleven inches in length ; the lesser sickles or 

 side-feathers should be also narrow and well 

 pointed, about five in number on each side of 

 tail, each getting shorter as it approaches the 

 root of tail, all being well whipped together. 

 Legs and feet willow, carriage erect, alert, and 

 fearless, weight about 6h lbs. 



" For breeding cocks of this description, such 

 a bird will of course be the sire : I will now 

 give the points of the hen to be mated with him. 

 Her general characteristics will be those of other 

 Game hens, the head being' long and bony, with 

 beak standing out well, face and eye red, also 

 comb, ear-lobes, and wattles. Attention should, 

 however, be given to the comb : it must be 

 small, fine, and well serrated, not becoming at 



