176 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION 



The Cockerel-Bred Males. These, as stated, are standard 

 colored and are sons of standard colored sires and their dams are 

 daughters of standard colored males. Males from these matings 

 vary in shade of color somewhat. Seme will come too light to 

 be classed as standard colored, while some will be too dark to 

 pass standard requirements. The former, because males are 

 inclined to breed too light, are worth little or nothing as breeders 

 for exhibition males. 



Too Light Males. They are too light generally because the 

 dark bars are not dark enough or wide enough to create the in- 

 tensity required of standard colored males, or because the light 

 bars are too wide which is, however, making about the same 

 statement as that the dark bars are not wide enough. 



Too Dark Males. The over-strong colored male, that is, 

 the one that is too dark for a first class exhibition specimen, is 

 useful as a breeder, sometimes extremely useful. The male may 

 be too strongly colored because of one or more of the follow- 

 ing faults. The dark bar may be too wide or "heavy," as it is 

 called. A dark bar much wider than the light bar is frequently 

 seen in cockerel-bred males and is not considered a serious fault 

 because of the real need of extra color in breeding males of the 

 male line. A breeder-exhibitor must bear in mind that this is the 

 real purpose of a cockerel-bred male which has dark bars of 

 this description, but that such a male is not of the very highest 

 exhibition quality. The dark bar may be too intensely dark, in 

 which case it has a gloss known among breeders as "sheen." 

 Usually this is a lustre of greenish shade. This is not desirable, 

 though when only faintly visible in certain sections, counts very 

 little against the specimen possessing it, and may add to its 

 breeding value with females of certain descriptions. 



The light bar may be, and very likely is, too narrow as 

 measured by Standard requirements. It may also be too dark. 

 By that is meant not a clear, grayish white. Light bars may 

 be smoky, that is, mixed with dark pigment, thus creating a 

 slaty shade. It may have a brownish tinge which gives the 

 specimen a rusty color, especially noticeable if the dark bar also 

 has a brownish tinge. 



Every cockerel-bred male that is to be mated or that is being 

 considered for a breeder should be examined to determine how 

 he deviates from standard color and how much ; that is, in which 

 direction is he too light or is he too dark what makes him 

 so ? The correct answer is comparatively easy to find if you are 



