:o6^ 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



quiet disposition, iie decided to take them 

 home to his father's farm. 



" From this source Mr. C. Carol Lonng, an 

 American breeder, secured his stock, and gave 

 them the name of Buttercups, from the pecu- 

 liar shape of the conib, which is neither rose, 

 pea nor single, but is formed like a cup on 

 the top of the head, with spikes or points 

 standing upright in a circle, somewhat resem- 

 bling a flower. Mr. Loring bred them for 

 many years, and improved their plumage and 

 general appearance, so as to make them a more 

 finished breed ; but they gradually dropped 

 out of favour in the States, through no one 

 caring to advertise or boom them in any way, 

 and also owing to inferior importations, some 

 coming with yellow legs instead of green, 

 combs of irregular shape, and every descrip- 

 tion of bad pencilling. 



" Some time afterwards better specimens of 

 the type, with good markings, were imported 

 to America, and carefully mated to the choicest 

 of the stock then there, and gradually the im- 

 perfections were eliminated, and from about 

 1909 onwards the popularity of the Buttercup 

 in America steadily increased, and capital 

 classes were exhibited at tlie great New York 

 and Boston shows." 



Mr. Chambers has imported stock both 

 from America and Sicily, and advises that 

 anyone taking up Buttercups must remember 

 tliat they are difficult birds to breed true to 

 type or colour, and to produce a perfect comb, 

 and it must not be expected that a large per- 

 centage of stock raised will come yet up to 

 the exhibition standard ; for Sicilian Butter- 

 cups belong par excellence to the utility class, 

 and will not be a finished show bird for some 

 years to come, as, indeed, the continued 

 alterations in the standard serve to indicate. 

 He adds: "Their utility qualities are beyond 

 question, as they have been bred for many 

 generations in Sicily, and over fifty years, on 

 and off, in America. Their eggs are generally 

 white; occasionally some may show a slight 

 tint. They are small eaters, and great foragers 

 if they have a free run, and are practically 

 non-sitters. They mature very early (from 

 three to five months), are extremely vigorous 

 and hardy, small-boned, easily fattened, un- 

 surpassed as broilers, and their meat is of the 

 highest quality. The standard weights are: 

 Hen, from 4 to 5 lbs. ; cock, 5 to 6 lbs. ; but 

 these weights have been exceeded by as much 

 as two or three pounds respectively in 

 America." 



Upon the antiquity of the Buttercup, with 

 its distinctive comb, Mrs. A. X. Dumaresq 



contributes an interesting note to the Ameri- 

 can Buttercup Club's 1914 Year-Book. She 

 writes : 



" It may interest readers to learn that this 

 busy little fowl has held court for centuries in 

 their native country, as well as in France. You 

 will find, among the many pictures of different 

 breeds of fowls, the Sicilian (or Buttercup) as 

 the most conspicuous. The Ancona is also 

 seen, and many other breeds, painted by artists 

 of note. For instance, in the Borghese Gallery 

 (the most important next to the Vatican) you 

 will find Anconas and Sicilians (or Butter- 

 cups) ; in the Vatican Gallery the same, dating 

 back to the sixteenth century, painted by a 

 noted Spanish artist named Spinello, if I 

 remember correctly. In Paris you will find a 

 fine oil painting of them. In the National Art 

 Gallery in Florence you will find them also." 



A marked characteristic of the Sicilian 

 Buttercup is its docility, due, doubtless, to its 

 long and close association with the Sicilian 

 peasants, in whose homes it wanders in and out 

 as free as ever did the " gentleman who paid 

 the rent " in Irish cabins. This docility is 

 useful, and should be encouraged, for many 

 excellent breeds have lost popularity through 

 their wildness ; and that it is present the 

 Editor of this work had an illustration of 

 whilst writing these notes, in the shape of a 

 cock and a pullet brought up for him to see 

 by Mr. Wm. Toozes, junr., the Secretary of 

 the British Sicilian Buttercup Club. These 

 birds, picked up from a free range that morn- 

 ing, brought fifty miles on a motor-car, and 

 penned on our office table, were as unconcerned 

 at their novel surroundings as any veteran 

 show-goers could well have been. 



It appears necessary, however, if real pro- 

 gress is to be made with the Buttercup, that 

 a permanent standard should soon be arrived 

 at, and particularly as regards the females ; 

 and the point is well put by Mrs. H. J. Carr, 

 in the American Club's Year-Book, who writes : 



" Changes in the standard from year to 

 year are hard on the careful breeder and a 

 detriment to progress. For this reason, it 

 seems to me, the quicker all necessary changes 

 in the standard are made, and the quicker the 

 standard is made to embody all the requisites 

 of the ideal Buttercup — as it will be, say, in ten 

 years from now — the quicker will we learn how 

 to breed good Buttercups, and the more 

 rapidly will the breed improve. 



" Our standard calls for females having 

 plain buff breasts and necks, with spangled 

 feathers on back. This is very desirable, but 

 birds showing the beautifully spangled 



