POULTRY. 



543 



compact and close, the cock, like tlie hen, being devoid of hackle, saddle, or sickle feathers. 

 The ground color should be clear in each variety, and whether Gold or Silver, the lacing 

 should be narrow and distinct, and never spotted. The eyes are large and bright, and the 

 carriage vain and pompous, strutting about in the most ludicrous manner. 



Japanese Bantams. This breed, though rare in this country, is becoming quite a 

 favorite where well known, and we doubt not that it will soon become as common as many 

 of our most familiar breeds. As the name indicates, they are imported from Japan, and 

 seem to be easily acclimated and quite hardy, also easily reared, while their appearance 

 generally is so unique and beautiful that they cannot fail to attract admiration, even from 

 the most practical and prosaic. The plumage of these birds is pure white, except the tail, 

 which in the cock is a rich black, each feather having a narrow edge of white distinctly 

 marked around it, similar to the Silver Penciled Hamburgs, which gives a beautiful con 

 trast with the glossy black. The tail is also very large, compared with the size of the 



bird, is full and upright, nearly touching the back 

 of the head, and flows in a sweeping semi-circle. 

 The sickle feathers are very long. The head is 

 rather large, the comb is bright red, standing 

 erect, and evenly serrated; the ear lobes and 

 wattles are also bright red; the neck is rather 

 short and carried well back; the breast quite 

 prominent and full, body short and compact, and 

 the wings large and long, the points carried droop 

 ing. The back and legs are yellow, the latter 

 quite short and free from feathers. The plumage 

 is pure white except the tail. These little birds 

 breed true to feather, are quiet and easily tamed, 

 while their beautiful plumage and proud car 

 riage renders them exceedingly attractive, and highly ornamental to any yard or lawn. 

 The eggs, though small, are very delicate in flavor. The originals from which the full page 

 cut of these birds was made weighed, cock, twenty-four ounces; hen, fifteen ounces. 



Nankin Bantams. This is an old, and now very rare breed, they being seldom seen at 

 shows. The color of the hen is similar to that of the Buff Cochin, the hackle being darker, 

 also the tail feathers tipped with black. The color of the cock s plumage is considerably 

 darker than that of the hen, the tail being a glossy black, and quite full and sweeping, though 

 some very fine specimens have the tail of a chestnut or copper-color shading into black; but 

 the jet black is preferred. They vary more than most varieties, as the hen is often of a light 

 canary color, with tail of a rich brown, shading into black at the end. The legs are 

 unfeathered, and usually dark in color, though sometimes white; the dark, however, are 

 preferred. They are said to be very tame, excellent layers of eggs large in proportion to 

 their size, and very careful mothers. The smallest specimens are considered the most 

 desirable. 



Pekin Bantams. This variety, sometimes called the &quot;Cochin Bantam,&quot; is a native 

 of China, and was first shown in England in 1863; the progenitors of those then exhibited 

 having been stolen from the Summer Palace at Pekin during the Chinese war, when. during 

 the Anglo-French Expedition in 1860 that palace was sacked. 



It is, size excepted, like the Buff Cochin, not only in color, form, feathering of the leg, 

 and abundant fluff, but in the other characteristics. The legs, however, are shorter in pro 

 portion, than the large breed. They are very tame and docile, and, like all the Bantam 



