PLYMOUTH ROCK STANDARD AND BREED BOOK 337 



white color markings of our breed, the specimen should be big- 

 boned and have a long body, broad breast and legs, neck and 

 tail to conform. 



Hackle 



"To my mind there is nothing so beautiful in the makeup 

 of a Columbian Rock as a well-defined, distinctly marked hackle, 

 with feather having broad black centers, edged off with the 

 narrow white stripe. The hackle seems to outshine all parts of 

 the body and naturally should have the most consideration. I 

 do not know of any other section of the body which implies or 

 has so much meaning, consequently every effort should be made 

 to produce good hackles. The black markings should be carried 

 well up to the head, and should meet in front. I have heard 

 many judges say that unless the hackle is at least fairly good 

 they would not go to the trouble to take the bird out of the 

 exhibition coop for closer examination. A smutty or smoky 

 hackle is one of the hardest, if not the hardest, defect to out- 

 breed, but it can be done by line-breeding two or three genera- 

 tions on A-l hackled specimens. A tendency today is to have 

 the white border of female hackle feathers too wide. The narrow 

 stripe in my judgment is the ideal. 



Tail and Saddle of Male 



"The main-tail feathers of both male and female should be 

 solid black, also sickle feathers of male. The tail-coverts of 

 both male and female constitute one of the most important, as 

 well as most beautiful sections of the color markings. The 

 male tail-coverts should have the greenish-black center in web, 

 edged off with a narrow white border, giving it the appear- 

 ance of a highly polished feather. Female tail-coverts should 

 have solid black centers edged off with a narrow white border. 



"One of the most important sections of male bird is the 

 saddle. The saddle feathers should be white with a distinct, 

 very narrow V-shaped, black stripe at end of feather, tapering 

 to a point near its lower extremity. Many judges disagree as 

 to the amount of collective feather striping there should be in 

 the saddle. In my opinion about one-half or at most two-thirds 

 of feathers is sufficient. 



Wing 



"Primaries should be black, with white edging on lower edge 

 of lower web and secondaries should have much wider white 



