4i8 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



very fair pullets, though failing in cockerels. 

 Pure silvery white in the hackles of both sexes 

 is the great criterion. The best mating of all is 

 that of a silvery-hackled cock with a rather 

 dark grey but absolutely pure-coloured hen. 



To breed Golden Duckwings, two pens are 

 practically requisite, though not so much so as 

 before the rich golden wing-bows now sought in 

 the cock, had replaced the deep maroon or 

 crimson once fashionable. For cockerel breed- 

 ing it is best to select a typical Golden exhibition 

 bird, sound in all his colours, and put to him 

 hens with rich salmon breasts, and which may 

 with no detriment have a little warmth or rust 

 on the wing. For breeding pullets, the cock 

 should be bred from Golden pullets, very sound 

 in his black all over, but rather light on 

 shoulder, and is none the worse if rather broken 

 in colour there : if his hackle also tends to being 

 silvery it is all the better. His mates should be 

 pure in colour, as near as possible to ideal 

 exhibition hens. If at any time too much 

 colour comes in the hackles of either sex, or the 

 bodies of the hens, a cross of Silver Duckwing 

 blood is desirable. 



The first record of Buff Leghorns is at the 

 Copenhagen Show of 1885, and the first hen 

 exhibited in England, at the Palace Show of 

 1888, also came from Denmark ; but 

 Buff these birds were known in that 



Leghorns. country as yellow Italiens, and there 

 is no doubt of their Italian origin. 

 The Palace hen was purchased by Mr. L. C. 

 Verrey, who subsequently procured other stock, 

 and bred them in England : Mr. Penfold Field 

 also had early Danish stock. After a year or 

 two nearly all the good Buff's came into the 

 hands of one breeder, who however refused 

 to dispose of either eggs or birds in England, 

 though exporting to America ; and this course 

 retarded any progress in England considerably. 

 Subsequently Miss Pulford (the late Mrs. R. 1". 

 Thornton) succeeded in procuring a good strain, 

 and Messrs. Bateman and others also imported 

 from America, where the variety had been well 

 taken up ; and with this extension of Buff blood 

 amongst a wider circle, improvement became 

 more rapid, aided in point of colour by one or 

 two out-crosses from Asiatic sources. 



Buff appears to suit the Leghorn type 

 especially well, and in no variety is the colour 

 more singularly attractive, the close but not 

 short plumage giving a soft silkiness of texture 

 which is not seen in some other breeds. For the 

 following notes on Buff Leghorns we are again 

 indebted to Mr. L. C. Verrey, who was, as stated 

 above, the earliest to breed them in this country. 



" Of all the sub-varieties of Leghorns, none 

 has been taken up with so much zeal as the 

 Buff, nor has any of the varieties been so 

 much improved by the infusion of alien 

 blood ; for the first Buffs imported into 

 England were different from those seen at 

 the present time. The art of the breeder has 

 produced a solidity of colour which did not 

 exist in the original specimens ; and it is very 

 interesting to note how this uniformity of buflf 

 has been obtained. It was in 1888 that the 

 first Buff Leghorn was seen in England, and 

 this was a hen exhibited by an enterprising 

 Danish fancier at the Crj-stal Palace show. 

 The bird was full of true Leghorn character- 

 istics, and of a very nice even lemon-buff colour. 

 She was claimed at the show ; and the ex- 

 hibitor was applied to for a cock and more 

 hens of the same description ; and in due 

 time a consignment was received. The cock 

 possessed excellent shape and size, but was 

 very deep orange, or nearly red on the back 

 and rather light in the hackle, whilst his 

 tail was white, with each feather having a 

 line of buff running round it. The whole 

 plumage was striking in contrast, but it could 

 hardly be considered a pure 'buff' in the 

 sense that we now use the word. More birds of 

 this variety were procured from the same 

 source by other fanciers, and every effort 

 was made to improve and intensify the colour 

 by crossing with other buff breeds. So far as 

 the colour alone was concerned, these methods 

 answered well ; but the Leghorn shape was 

 lost for a time, and red-lobed, feathered- 

 legged chickens were of very frequent occur- 

 rence. By judicious breeding and inbreeding 

 these faults were gradually diminished, and 

 now we have birds of both sexes even in colour, 

 and possessing true Leghorn characteristics. 



" The Buff Leghorn cock should have the 

 same kind of comb and colour of beak and 

 legs as the Brown or White varieties, whilst 

 his plumage colour should be either a lemon 

 or orange buff, the breast feathers being a 

 little richer in tone than the back, but 

 certainly not in any great degree such as to 

 form a decided contrast. The whole plumage, 

 whether of the lemon or orange shade, should 

 be quite even and free from mealiness, and 

 the tail should be solid in colour, perhaps a 

 little deeper in tone, but free from white or 

 black, or partly white or black feathers. 



"The Buff Leghorn hen should possess 

 the same characteristics as to head points, 

 style, shape and colour of beak, lobes, and 

 legs as the Brown hen, whilst her plumage 

 should be an even shade of buff all through, 



