CHAPTER II 



Evolution of Leghorn Type 



Studies of Shape Characteristics of Le^hc 

 Standard Type From 1874 to 1905. 



at Different Periods of Their Development. lUastratio 

 iportant Changes in Carriage of Tail and Length of Back. 



LENGTH of neck and limbs, size and character of 

 comb, and carriage and spread of tail have been 

 among the main points of controversy and change 

 of fashion, and it is interesting indeed to study in the 

 portraits of prize v^'inners, among modern Leghorns, how 

 the type has progressed. 



A study of the type of the Watson (No. 8) pair of 

 Brown Leghorns is sufficient to impel acceptance of the 

 statement that the early Brown Leghorns averaged about 

 sne-half pound heavier than the white variety. This pair 

 certainly impress us as heavier than the following plate 

 of White Leghorns. 



There is just a touch in the conformation of the type 

 illustrated in this pair that suggests Spanish — the length 

 of keel bone, the nearly parallel lines of the back and the 

 long breast, besides the form of tail proper, the lower 

 feathers being so much shorter than those at the top. 



Comparing this picture with the following reproduc- 

 tion of the pair illustfating "Eureka" and "Snowflake," 

 published in 1873, by J. Boardman Smith, of North Haven. 

 Conn., we at once recognize the well rounded breast and 

 spread of tail so much valued and admired i;i Leghorns of 

 today. The male especially, in this pair, exhibits the lower 

 feathers of tail proper nearly or quite three-fourths the 

 length of the upper pair. The saddle is also profusely fur- 

 n-shed in true Leghorn style as fancied nowadays. 



These early wood engravings of the breed show the 

 characteristic sprightliness of the race with their proud 

 high-headed carriage. The alert pose of head in the cock 

 of the J. Boardman Smith plate is full of Leghorn expres- 

 sion t(5 one acquainted with the spirit of these birds. 



In the Watson pair of Brown Leghorns an important 

 difiference from the white plate (9) that follows is 

 the rather level body in the Browns as compared to the 

 more upright carriage of the Whites. This over erect, or 

 slanting body, is a feature in the carriage of the breed 

 which fanciers particular about symmetry have carefully 



selected to modify by mating together those more level in 

 carriage of body. The appearance of this has been ap- 

 proached by birds possessing considerable length of 

 saddle, with plumage furnishings that extend the lines of 

 the back in a graceful sweep onto the tail coverts. 



The Leghorn in America has always been greatly ad- 

 mired for its gracefully turned curves of outline, and any 



approach to an angular coarseness has been discouraged 

 by the majority of exhibiting fanciers. This ideal of 

 curves has applied equally to the rounded bieast, the 

 nicely turned form of the shoulders and thighs, and the 

 profuse tiow of plumage over the entire bird that helps so 

 much to blend all sections together. 



The sharp angle caused by the over erect tail at its 

 juncture with the saddle, has, since our first acquaintance 

 with the breed in the 70's been a matter for toleration. In 

 the first "American Standard of Excellence" of 1874, no 

 mention of squirrel tail is made in the disqualifications for 

 Leghorns. In this standard the description of the car- 

 riage of tail for the male of the brown variety is "up- 

 right" and for the white is "very upright." 



Plate No. 10 illustrates the Leghorn type as a well 

 known judge recognized the style of White Leghorn^ in 

 1S74. At that time Mr. Pierce was a fancier and breeder 

 of this variety of the breed, and it no doubt well illustrates 

 some of the best obtainable at that date. 



Not until the 1898 edition of the Standard, where 

 "General Disqualifications" are referred to for Leghorns, 

 is "squirrel tail" made a definite disqualification for the 

 ill-bred Leghorn that carries his tail "in squirrel fashion." 



It has been asserted that height in the carriage of tail 

 is an indication of vigor. If this were true, then the Jap- 

 anese Bantam should class first in point of vigor, and the 

 .\seel among the inferior. However, these prove wrong 

 examples to establish such a rule; in fact, appear to dis- 



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