22 



THE LEGHORNS 



Harry Hesford, in his book, "Leghorns of All Va- 

 rieties," London, England, 1896, devotes a chapter to 

 Cuckoo Leghorns, from which we extract the following 

 remarks bearing upon their early history. 



Having treated of the White and Brown varieties of 

 the Leghorn family, there now remains for consideration 

 those sections which are usually grouped together as 

 minor varieties. 



Keeping strictly to the chronological order, apart 

 from considerations of importance or popularity. Cuckoo 

 Leghorns will first come under review. Black Leghorns, 

 however, are generally considered to have appeared in 

 England contemporaneously with "Cuckoos," and it may 

 be taken that most probably they were imported from the 

 Continent at the same time. Both varieties, it may be 

 well to state, had been known in Denmark for a long 

 period before their first appearance in England, and we 

 find at the Copenhagen Show, held on July 3rd, 1885, 

 amongst the 124 Leghorns penned, nine pens of "Black" 

 and two of "Cuckoos." Be that as it may, the first re- 

 corded instance of the appearance of "Cuckoos" in the 

 show pen in England we have been able to trace, was at 

 the first club show of the Leghorn, Plymouth Rock and 

 Andalusian Club. At this show held at Cheltenham in 

 January, 1885, a Miss Fowler showed three pens of 

 Cuckoos in the "Any Other Variety" (other than Browns 

 and Whites) class, winning second and third prizes. Since 

 that time Cuckoo Leghorns have been occasionally seen 

 in the show^ pen, but they are not, and never have been, 

 extensively cultivated. 



The Cuckoo Leghorn of England, to judge' by the 

 above records, is not destined to become popular, and is 

 more likely to join the Dominique Leghorn and enter in 

 the "breeds that failed to make good" class. 



Spangled Leghorns 



Donald Watson mentions such a variety of Leghorns 

 in "The Poultry World," December, 1874, giving the fol- 

 lowing information regarding them: 



Spangled Leghorns were, so far as I know, first bred 

 in this country in 1872, from Italian stock imported in 

 1871, and from this start have attracted great attention, 

 many pronouncing them superior in beauty to any other 

 of the Leghorn tribe, and all who have bred them ex- 

 tolling their vigor, early maturity, and wonderful laying 

 qualities. 



The plumage is pure brilliant black and white, each 

 feather (excepting primaries and secondaries, which are 

 entirely black) being white tipped instead of the reverse, 

 as in Silver-spangled Hamburgs. The ear lobe is white, 

 comb perfectly erect and five lobed in cock, lopping finely 

 in hen; ber.k, skin, and leg, bright yellow. The birds seem 

 to l)reed very true, one breeder claiming (and, I think, 

 with justice), that 4-5 will come true to feather. Certain 

 fanciers, perceiving the futuie importance of this breed, 

 have attempted to produce an imitation by crossing 

 Black and White Leghorns. We can say that, in every 

 case that has come to our knowledge, the experiment has 

 been a total failure. Nearly all the offspring of the first 

 cross have been almost or entirely white, often with dark 

 legs and bills — a measly mixture. When black and white 

 feathers have appeared, they have usually been black- 

 tipped, thus showing that the true spangled bird is not 

 the result of a cross. 



In England this variety was formerly called "Mottled 

 Leghorns," but is now recognized there by the name of 

 Anconas. The latter are becoming very popular in this 

 country, but are not recognized as a Leghorn variety, but 

 as a distinct breed belonging to the Mediterranean class. 



Birchen Leghorns 



None of this variety has been exhibited in America, 

 that we are aware of, and few have been seen in England, 

 to judge by the following remarks of Mr. Hesford in his 

 Leghorn book: 



We have also personally seen Birchen Leghorns, but 

 we doubt whether half a score of representatives of this 

 variety exist, or have existed at one time, although we 

 have seen for some years an advertisement offering birds 

 and eggs of the breed for sale. 



This was written in 1896, but since then very little has 

 been written on Birchens; neither do we find them adver- 

 tised in recent English poultry journals. The origin of 

 Birchen Leghorns is not given, but that they were se- 

 lected from Silver Duckwing Leghorn-Brown-Red Game 

 crosses seems probable. Birchen Leghorn males have the 

 Duckwing hackle, saddle and wing marking, differing only 

 in the color of the breast, the feathers of the latter, in- 

 stead of being black, as in the Duckwing, are black laced 

 with white, in the Birchen. In the females the neck 

 is silvery white, the hackle feathers being striped with 

 black; back, tail, wings, body and thighs are black, but 

 breast feathers are black laced with white. This variety 

 is a handsome one, and once it is firmly established in its 

 color markings, should not be difficult to breed. 



Blue Leghorns 



"Bred and made in England" applies to the blue va- 

 riety of Leghorn. Crossing White and Black Leghorns 

 was probably the easiest means applied to obtain these 

 blue birds. They are like Andalusians in color markings, 

 diiTering only in the color of the shanks, which are yellow 

 instead of slate or black, and, like Andalusians, they do 

 not reproduce the color in their progeny in over sixty per 

 cent, of the latter, although some English breeders claim 

 that their strains produce 80 per cent. Standard colored 

 chickens. From a fancier's standpoint. Blue Leghorns 

 should prove very attractive. 



Golden Duckwing Leghorns 



This variety differs only in the color of hackle, back, 

 saddle and wing bow of the male, from the Silver variety, 

 the females of both varieties being alike in color mark- 

 ings, with the exception, rarely noticed, of the Silver 

 Duckwing females, having a very slight lacing of light sil- 

 very gray on the feathers of the body. Golden Duckwing 

 Leghorns are the result of crossing a Brown Leghorn 

 male with a Silver Duckwing female. The color sections 

 of the males are: Neck, creamy-white', fading to ivory 

 white at bar of hackle; outside feathers finely and clearly 

 striped with black, the stripe broadest at the base of the 

 hackle; back, bright gold, dark at shoulders, shading to 

 light straw at beginning of saddle hangers, latter being 

 very light straw color shading to ivory white, lightly 

 striped with black. Wing bow, light, bright gold, not red 

 or dark orange, but yellow or light orange, solid and even, 

 any mixture of lighter or darker feathers being objection- 

 able. Wing bar, blue black; wing bay, white. Breast, tail 

 and underparts, black. 



Rose Comb Black Leghorns 



A comparatively new variety which originated in 

 ngland, and in which country it is evidently quite pop- 

 ular in some quarters. Being the result of Hamburg-Black 

 1 Leghorn cross. Rose Comb Black Leghorns resemble 

 ' Black Hamburgs too closely, to ever become popular with 

 fanciers. As a utility fowl it may prove a desirable addi- 

 ! tion to the white egg laying races of poultry. 



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