BREDAS AND MALINES. 



48 1 



should be furnished with properly developed saddle 

 hackles. 



THE GOLD 



Plumage. — Head and. Neck-hackle : Rich gold, 

 and not washed-out yellow. Remainder of Plumage : 

 Ground colour rich gold, and barring pure black 

 with rich beetle-green sheen, and markings as in the 

 Silver. 



SCALE OP POINTS 

 Markings . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 



Colour : neck-hackle, 12 ; sheen, 10 



Size . . 



Condition 



Tail (development and carriage) . . . . . . 8 



Comb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 



Eyes 5 



Lobes . . 



Legs and feet . . ... 



Serious defects : Even barring ; pencilled ground 

 colour ; sprigs on comb ; legs other than leaden 

 blue ; wliite in face ; red eyes ; feather or fluff on 

 shanks. 



A breed known as Gueldres or Bredas, the 

 former name being given to the Cuckoo variety, 

 has long been known in Belgium, the Nether- 

 lands, and some parts of northern 

 Bredas France. It was much praised by 



, M. Jacque and other early French 



writers, and was introduced into 

 England by Mr. Geyelin and Mr. Schroder, in 

 tlie days of the disastrous National Poultry 

 Company. It was also at one time considerably 



Fig. 133. — Head of Breda Cock. 



bred in the United States ; but appears to have 

 lost ground of late years everywhere, being 

 elbowed out, on the Continent as well as here, 

 by more recent favourites. The breed has a 

 small crest, and slightly feathered rather short 



61 



legs, but its chief peculiarity is an entire ab- 

 sence of comb, there being instead a depression 

 in the red skin just over the cavernous nostrils, 

 and behind the barest little ridge of flesh. 

 Fig. 133 shows this formation, and the entire 

 head of a Breda fowl, as drawn by M. Jacque 

 so far back as 1864. The breed is reported 

 as hardy, good in flesh, and a fairly good 

 layer, but not much of a sitter. (See also p. 483.) 

 We are indebted to Mr. Edward Brown, 

 F.L.S., who has travelled much upon the 

 Continent, for the following notes and de- 

 scriptions of the following other breeds in 

 Belgium and Russia. 



" The leading variety of Belgian fowls for 

 table purposes is the Coucou de Malines, which 

 is bred extensively in Brabant, to the north of 

 the city of Malines, and fatted in 

 Coucou the villages to the west of Malines, 



de chiefly in the district around Merch- 



Maiines. tem and Opwyck, in Flanders. 



These fowls when dead are known 

 under the name of Poules des Bruxelles. It may 

 be explained that the fattening is not restricted 

 to the district where the birds are chiefly 

 reared, the breeders and fatteners meeting at 

 a large market which has been established at 

 Londerzeel. In many respects the Coucou de 

 Malines resembles the Plymouth Rock. It is 

 generally of the Asiatic t\'pe — that is, heav)- in 

 build, substantial in bone, upright in carriage, 

 and with a small tail, though this is not so 

 small as that of the Brahma and Cochin. The 

 males weigh about 9 lbs. unfatted. The legs 

 are stout and rather long, the latter being flesh- 

 coloured or rose-white, and ornamented on the 

 outer side with small feathers ; the tail is short 

 and thick ; the head stout, surmounted by a 

 single comb, small in size and upright in both 

 sexes, with clear indentations ; the wattles and 

 earlobes are red ; the neck is thick and short, 

 the body massive, thick-set, and the breast 

 prominent. There are two colours, namely, 

 what is known as cuckoo and the white ; the 

 former are chiefly met with, and the whites ap- 

 pear to be a sport therefrom. Comparatively 

 few of the latter are bred, but they are in- 

 creasing in favour. The hen is a fair layer, 

 but the eggs — as is usual in the case of birds of 

 the Asiatic type — are rather small as compared 

 with the size of the birds from which they are 

 produced. The eggs are well tinted, and are 

 usually short in comparison with their size. 

 The hens are excellent sitters, and make very 

 good mothers, although they are somewhat 

 heavy. 



" The Malines fowl is quiet in temperament, 



