POULTRY KEEPING 529 



the Indian Games. As layers the Dorkings are considered rather in- 

 different, but they are careful sitters and attentive mothers. 



There are three varieties of Dorkings the White, Silver Gray, 

 and Colored. The White Dorking is really the purest blooded of 

 the three, as for years this was the only variety which produced in- 

 variably the fifth toe, although the Colored and Silver Gray varieties 

 seldom fail to breed this peculiarity. In color the White Dorking 

 is of clear, unblemished white. The comb and wattles are a bright 

 red ; the shanks and toes are white. 



Silver Gray Dorkings are beautiful in plumage. The head of 

 the cock is silvery white; hackle, silvery white and as free from 

 stripes as possible; comb, face, ear lobes, and wattles, bright red; 

 beak, white, streaked with horn ; eye, bright red. 



Colored Dorkings differ from the others only in color, the gen- 

 eral color of the male being black and straw color, while the female is 

 marked with black and mixed gray, with breast of dark salmon 

 edged with black. The combs of Dorkings differ in the three varie- 

 ties ; the White has a rose comb, Silver Grays and Colored have single 

 combs. 



The standard weights for Dorkings differ. The weights for 

 Whites are: Cocks, 7% pounds; hens, 6 pounds; cockerels, 6Mj 

 pounds ; and pullets, 5 pounds. For Silver Grays : Cocks, 8 pounds ; 

 hens, Q l /o pounds; cockerels, 7 pounds; pullets, 5% pounds. For the 

 Colored: Cocks, 9 pounds; hens, 7 pounds; cockerels, 8 pounds; 

 pullets, 6 pounds. 



Cornish and White Indian Games. The Indian Game has 

 many fine qualities to recommend it to the breeder, and for many 

 years past has been a popular fowl. In plumage the Cornish Indian 

 male is green-black intermixed with red and bay. The plumage of 

 the hen should be a combination of bay and black throughout. 



The breast is very wide, round, and prominent, the thighs are 

 well rounded, and thick and meaty next to the body ; the shanks are 

 very stout, smoothly scaled, and yellow in color ; the back toe should 

 be almost flat on the ground ; the tail close and hard, carried at slight 

 elevation, and sickles narrow; wings tightly folded, the ends of the 

 secondaries rounding off abruptly and resting close against the tail 

 or just below it ; eyes yellow, beak yellow, or yellow striped with horn 

 color. The Indian Game is a beautiful bird, and its every movement 

 bespeaks its high breeding. The White variety is identical with the 

 Cornish except that the plumage should be pure white. The stand- 

 ard weight of cocks is 9 pounds; hens, Q l /2 pounds; cockerels, 7 1 / 

 pounds; pullets, 5 l /2 pounds. 



EGG BREEDS. 



Leghorns. These are the best known of the egg-producing 

 varieties, or Mediterranean class. They are the premiers in laying 

 and the standard by which the prolificness of other breeds is judged. 

 As to the origin of the Leghorns there are differences of opinion, and 

 there is but little information to be found anywhere concerning their 

 early history. It is generally conceded that a race of fowls bearing a 

 close resemblance in many respects to the Leghorn has existed in 



