5i6 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



Birchens among the produce of the first cross, 

 which could be returned to the father for pure 

 Birchen breeding, as it would be unwise to use 

 him again with his Brown-red progeny, cr 

 next season more Birchens than Brown-reds 

 would result. 



Birchens to-day are more popular than 

 they ever were, but still not more so than I 

 should like to see, for really there is no 

 prettier or more taking bird than a 

 Birchen good Birchen pullet. As already 



Bantams. Stated, they came originalh- by 

 crossing Duckwings with Brown- 

 reds, but now it would seem preferable to 

 breed them as much as possible inter se, so as 

 to get the proper mulberry face and deeply 

 coloured eye emphasised as much as possible. 

 The male bird is easily described, as he 

 resembles the Brown-red in every point save 

 top-colour and lacing on breast, which should 

 in both cases be a pure silvery white. As 

 there is Duckwing blood, the greatest care 

 should be exercised to eliminate the tendency 

 to red face and eye resulting from a cross 

 with a " red-faced " variety. The pullet also 

 resembles the Brown-red in every point, if we 

 substitute white lacing of the breast and neck 

 hackh; for the pale lemon of the Brown-red. 

 Naturally there will be some tendency to lemon 

 hue in the neck. This should be rigorously 

 suppressed, and is more in evidence in cross- 

 bred than in pure-bred birds. Another serious 

 fault with many pullets is a dark cap instead 

 of a uniform silvery white from crown to end 

 of hackle ; and even some of the most typical 

 birds hitherto have failed in sparsity of lacing 

 on breast. The difficulty is, when the breeder 

 has secured the lacing from throat to top of 

 thighs, to prevent it appearing elsewhere, as 

 on back and wing, with shafty feathering, 

 which would condemn a bird much more than 

 the want of enough lacing on breast, thoug'; 

 such birds would prove gems in the cockerei- 

 breeding pen. Of course the eye will give 

 trouble ; it is only to be expected. Red eyes 

 should be rigorously eliminated ; though wo 

 often see birds with this defect winning, it 

 ouglit not to be so. A deep brown or black 

 eye is the correct thing, thoug!) it seems next 

 to impossible to get them as coal black as in 

 Brown-reds, owing to the Duckwing cross in 

 them. 



The mating up presents no difficulty. The 

 same lines should be followed as with Brown- 

 reds. It is preferable to breed from pure 

 Birchens, but if unable to procure these, one 

 must begin at the beginning, and procure two 



White 

 Game 

 Bantams, 



or three typical Brown-red bens or pullets 

 heavily laced on breast, and mate them to a 

 Silver Duckwing cockerel of good quality. 

 Birds of the right stamp can be easily com- 

 passed for about a sovereign or under from 

 any reliable Duckwing breeder, as they are of 

 no use in the show-pen. 



Whites, I think, will never secure the 

 popularity in this country that they do in the 

 States. They are mostly sports from Brown- 

 reds, though doubtless some are 

 bred from lemon Piles, and for 

 some time will show traces of their 

 origin in the sulphury hue of the 

 neck hackle. Pile breeders look upon lemon 

 Piles as rank wasters, although in America 

 classes are provided for them. Therefore it is 

 an easy matter to pick up birds at from 5s. to 

 lOs. each about August or September, so that 

 anyone who fancies this pretty variety — for 

 they are pretty — could set up very decently 

 for a matter of 30s. or so, and some day the 

 popular taste might change. The Pile-bred 

 Whites have the advantage over the Brown-red 

 sports in that the latter are often willow- 

 legged. A good White should have either 

 rich orange-yellow legs or white legs to set 

 him off to the best advantage, and be a pure 

 paper-white all over in both sexes, with bril- 

 liant cherry-coloured faces and ear-lobes ; eyes 

 red. Do not attempt this pretty variety unless 

 you can give them a country atmosphere, free 

 from smoke and dust, and where they can 

 have a free grass run. Otherwise disappoint- 

 ment will ensue. 



OLD ENGLISH GAME BANTAMS. 

 After lying for years in a dormant state 

 the fancy for Old English Game Bantams 

 suddenly leaped at a bound into amazing 



activity. The breed was as old as 

 Old English the hills, but had been much over- 

 Game looked since poultry shows came 

 Bantams. into fashion. I remember having 



a fine pair when I was a boy of 

 some ten summers, over forty years ago. They 

 were of the "spangled," or, as it was then 

 termed, the "speckled " variety, and handsome 

 birds they were, though perhaps a little larger 

 than those which would nowadays grace a 

 show-pen. But they were by no means new 

 then, for my grandfather kept them in his 

 day, and the probability is that his forefathers 

 some generations back had them too. Latterly 

 they have come with a rush again, and no com- 

 mittee need fear that their classes will not be 

 filled with this breed. And as to prices, what 



