414 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



"In the necessary washing of White Leg- 

 horns for show, the first wash often brings out 

 a distasteful yellow tinge known as 'sap,' that 

 should wear off with a few good baths ; but, if 

 not, the bird may be discarded as useless." 



The colour of the Brown Leghorn as first 

 bred in America was very uncertain, some of 

 the first imported specimens having a great deal 

 of brown in the breasts of the cocks. 

 Brown This was however gradually bred 



Leghorns. out in favour of the black breast ; 

 and for many years the accepted 

 colour has been what may generally be de- 

 scribed as that of the black-breasted red Game, 

 with the exception that the cock's hackles are 

 somewhat darker, or orange-red, and should 

 have a little black striping near the shoulders. 

 This colour resembles that of the Game cocks 

 before these were bred quite so bright, and there 

 is no doubt that several crosses with black- 

 breasted red Game were employed at different 

 times, to improve and fix the colour and mark- 

 ing. The effects of this crossing are still seen 

 occasionally in pullets with dark legs and feet 

 (from the willow legs of the Game), and as this 

 fault is especially obstinate, specimens which 

 exhibit it should be carefully avoided in breed- 

 ing. It is less comtnon now than a few 

 years ago. 



For the following article on Broun Leghorns 

 and their breeding, we are indebted to Mr. L. C. 

 Verrey, The Warren, Oxshott, Surrey, whose 

 connection with the fowl is probably longer than 

 that of any other living breeder : — 



"The Brown Leghorns, like their brethren 

 the Whites, are of pure Italian origin, but like 

 them, did not come to us from their native 

 country, but from America, where they had 

 been bred for many years before being imported 

 into England. They were at first there called 

 'Red Leghorns.' Their prolific egg-producing 

 qualities soon brought them such a reputation 

 that they were eagerly sought after, and con- 

 stant im.portations from Italy had to be made 

 to supply the demand. Since the first Brown 

 Leghorns in England arrived from America 

 during the year 1872, they have been culti- 

 vated with ever-increasing energy. 



" Though their general characteristics and 

 prolificacy have been fully maintained, the 

 type of the fowls has been greatly changed in 

 England, so that, at the present time, the 

 English and American types differ to a large 

 degree ; the latter being more sprightly and of 

 slighter build. The English idea seems to have 

 been to make them more of the Dorking than 

 the Game type, and consequently the modern 



English Brown Leghorn is much heavier in 

 build than the original. Unfortunately, Game 

 and also Minorca blood was introduced into the 

 Brown Leghorn some few years ago, with a 

 view to improve colour of plumage, size of lobe, 

 and size of body ; but this infusion of foreign 

 blood has done more harm than good, and much 

 of the existing darkness in feet and toes and 

 white in face is attributable to these causes. 



" The colour of the present-day Brown 

 Leghorn has also suffered by the use of very 

 light-coloured hackle cocks for stud purposes, 

 so that the thick black stripes which 

 Points of fQjp^ swzh pleasing contrast to the 

 Leghorns. ground colour of golden bay have 

 been almost lost, and it is rare to 

 see a really well-striped hackle. This striping 

 in the neck and saddle hackles, more especially 

 in the former, is one of the points that Ameri- 

 can breeders have been most careful to maintain, 

 so that a Brown Leghorn cock with a plain 

 hackle is considered of little worth across the 

 Atlantic. The large over-developed combs of 

 both sexes that are now prevalent are also 

 totally at variance with the combs of the 

 original type, which were, though large, quite in 

 proportion to the head. These are some of 

 the points wherein the ancient and modern 

 types differ, and are set forth to illustrate what 

 the art of the fancier can do by studied selec- 

 tion of the breeding stock, combined with the 

 infusion of alien blood. 



" We now come to the colour-points of the 

 cock. The head should be fairly deep, whilst 

 the beak should be rather long and straight, of 

 a yellow colour, though horn-colour, or a stripe 

 of horn-colour running down the centre of the 

 yellow, is quite permissible, and will be found 

 in nine instances out of ten. The comb is 

 single, fine in texture, large in size, deeply and 

 evenly serrated. There is no definite rule as to 

 the exact number of serrations, but the most 

 symmetrical comb is that which has six. The 

 comb should be firmly set on, and extend well 

 over the back of the head. Unfortunately, the 

 desire to have pullets with the largest possible 

 combs has had a harmful effect on the combs of 

 the cocks, for not only has it made them too 

 heavy, but has caused them to become bulgy, 

 and thus create a hollow near the front, which is 

 commonly called a ' thumb mark.' The face 

 should be bright red, quite free from wrinkles 

 and white specks or spots. The eyes red, 

 bright, and sparkling. VVattles rather long and 

 thin, fine in texture, and without folds. In the 

 colour of the ear lobes we have gone away from 

 the original, for now it is decreed that they must 

 be pure white, while in the pure Italian Leghorn 



