43* 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



in I goo described the hackles as "tipped from 

 the head with dagger-shaped tips, becoming 

 spangles at the shoulders." Except at the 

 shoulders they are neither of these in the 



■ Head. Half-way. 



Fig. 123. — Hackles of Silver-sp 



majority of cases, Fig. 124 representing feathers 

 in the same places as those shown above from 

 Mr. Beldon's cup hen, from cup-winners belong- 

 ing to both Mr. Pickles and Mr. Roberts. Up to 

 about half-way down, it will be seen, these 

 feathers are striped, the full half-way feather 

 beginning, however, to show the stripe coming 

 to an end near the base, and with a tendency for 

 the white ground also to break into the feather 

 more towards the tip. This change to striping 

 is a consequence of the changes in breeding to 

 be described. 



The Silver-spangled Hamburgh owes every- 

 thing to the counties of Lancashire and York- 

 shire. In Lancashire hens had been brought 



to a very high standard years 

 Breeding before ever poultry-shows were 



Bpangles. thought of, and as regards feather, 



all our modern skill has been 

 unable to improve upon this old breed ; indeed, 

 some of the old Mooneys, as they were called, 

 were absolute perfection in this point of feather; 

 the spangling, so large, round, and rich in colour, 

 was really something to be wondered at. This 

 careful and extreme breeding for feather in the 

 old Lancashire Mooney fowls, resulted in pro- 

 ducing hen-feathered cocks — that is, cocks 

 marked very similarly to the hens, heavily ticked 

 on the neck, with spangling on the back, sides, 



etc., and with a square or hen tail. It was to 

 this variety that all the prizes were given at the 

 beginning of the poultry-showing era ; but after 

 they had enjoyed a year or two's popularity, the 

 judges at Birmingham announced that the hen- 

 feathering of Mooney cocks was not the " correct 

 thing," and that such birds were unfertile. In 

 this latter charge there was much truth in regard 

 to many, though some are prolific enough ; but 

 the hen-tailed cocks were thrown out, and their 

 reign as show birds was over. 



In Yorkshire, on the other hand, was another 

 Silver-spangled breed known as the Yorkshire 

 Pheasant, which had the desired cock-feathering, 

 the cock being a fine full-plumaged bird ; but the 

 spangling was much inferior to that of the Lan- 

 cashire variety, lacking not only in size, but the 

 roundness and glossy greenness of the spangles ; 

 but being decidedly smarter in appearance, and 

 possessing whiter ear-lobes. The hen-feathered 

 Lancashire Mooney had coarse, red ear-lobes, and 

 even the older Yorkshire Pheasants had not 

 much to boast of in this respect ; still they were 

 whitish, and a few years' careful breeding soon 

 brought this point to perfection. The Yorkshire 



Near Head. Half-way. At Shoulder. 



Fig. 124.— Hackles ol Silver-spangled Hen, 1900. 



cocks had, moreover, nice clear tails, while the 

 hen-feathered cocks of that day often had smutty 

 tails ; but the Yorkshire birds lacked colour on 

 the back and wings. Still, at first these York- 

 shire cocks were shown with Lancashire 



