TWO NOTABLE BIRDS. 



ever saw. Added to this was her superb lacing. 

 No one need wonder that I was head over heels 

 in love with her. £15 was the price asked, and, 

 although I tried to woo her owner to let me take 

 her at a less figure (my pocket being very low at 

 that particular time), I could make no impression 

 upon him, and had to be content to take the 

 image of the bird away with me instead. I am 

 pleased to say that the bird has remained on my 

 memory, undiminished, ever since. 



Other black Blond inettes then began to make 

 their appearance with lacing up to the shoulder. 

 One cock particularly stands out in my mind. 

 This was a bird which our older fanciers well 

 remember, the " Hall cock." This bird was 

 bred in 1898 by Mr. Geo. Hall, of Birken- 

 head. And why I single it out particularly 

 from other good black laces which were appearing 

 at about the same period is to demonstrate 

 another most charming development which this 

 bird possessed to a remarkable degree. That was 

 the lacing underneath the body. It is no exag- 

 geration to say that he was almost as well laced 

 underneath as he was on the top. And apart 

 from his marvellous lacing had a grand head. 



Now I would like my young friends to bear 

 in mind that the neck and head in this bird, and 

 all others at that period, were solid black. And 

 here I would like us to stop and think for a while, 

 and as naturalists, reason things out a little. We 

 have watched the lacing gradually creep up from 

 the bar to the shoulder butts. We have also here 



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