292 AMERICAN POULTRY ASSOCIATION 



Many qualities are sacrificed to obtain these peculiar and unique 

 markings. Even the shade of color is of secondary importance, 

 and it is a noteworthy fact that the longer one breeds this vari- 

 ety, the more he admires and strives to produce these pencilings 

 in the highest state of perfection; and in natural consequence, 

 wing or curving slightly; either line if regular and distinct 

 he comes to regard the exact shade of mahogany as of corre- 

 spondingly less importance. (See illustration, Plates 97 and 98 

 for examples of irregular penciling.) 



The Markings Required. As already stated, these should 

 conform to the outline of the feather. This is true of the surface 

 of the feather, and a little below. The undercolor or fluff should 

 be a slaty color. 



The Undercolor. Formerly, considerable importance was 

 attached to the shade of slate below the surface, but of late little 

 attention is paid to that feature. The regularly and strongly 

 penciled surface is what is desired and for undercolor? Why, 

 take whatever comes with the surface, which is usually slate of 

 one shade or another, is the line of reasoning usually applied by 

 breeders. To be a little more explicit : Dark slate undercolor 

 was formerly desired very much because it was thought that by 

 breeding for and from specimens that possessed it, the disquali- 

 fying white, so prone to appear in males, was most effectively 

 eliminated. The fundamental reason why it is no longer insisted 

 upon lies in the fact that the best penciled specimens are inclined 

 to have light slate in the undercolor and males from the best 

 specimens may have light slate, or even white, at the base of the 

 feathers, yet both would be tolerated for the sake of producing 

 superior female plumage. Another reason is that more brilliant 

 surface color accompanies the lighter shades of undercolor; or, 

 at least, many think so. 



The Color of the Pencilings. Because the ground color of 

 mahogany-brown is marked with broad, black lines or narrow 

 bands, which, when approximately ideal, may have the appear- 

 ance of having been sketched with a pencil, these markings are 

 known as pencilings. 



To be ideal, the color must be black. This quality gives 

 strength to the pencilings, by virtue of the strong contrast, as 

 true black give prominence to the pencilings. Lustrous, green- 

 ish-black pencilings sometimes appear and are very pretty, 

 though the Standard does not require penciling of such pro- 

 nounced black. Brown shades or any shade that gives the pen- 

 ciling a weak, or, as fanciers express it, a "washed out" appear- 



