JAVAS AND BLACK GIANTS 



233 



The modern Black Java is an American production and is a 

 member of the American class of fowls. The typical Java has a long 

 back and body and a broad feather, but in other respects is not dis- 

 similar to the Rock, and has from time to time absorbed the material 

 that appeared and was available for the development of a black 

 variety of the Plymouth Rock breed. 



Some excellent Black Javas have been shown even in recent years. 

 Herbert Link, of Laporte, Indiana, produced some very fine ones 

 about 1912. At the present time, however, Black Javas are exhibited 

 rarely at the poultry shows and only in small numbers. As a Black 

 Plymouth Rock, the variety might be more popular. A black plumagecl 

 fowl does not show the dirt as does a white one, and when William 

 Cook originated the Orpington it was a Black Orpington, designed 

 for poultrykeepers in London and the environs of that great city. 

 where white and buff fowls became dirty and less attractive. While 

 some people object to black pin feathers, their conspicuous presence 

 is a guarantee that they will not be eaten; and altogether a black 

 fowl has special qualifications which should commend it. 



Characteristics of the breed and mating. The Standard recognizes 

 the Java as a distinct breed and requires a long back slightly declin- 

 ing to tail. One characteristic of the breed is black or nearly black 

 shanks, with bottoms of feet yellow. Willow shanks are allowable in 

 cocks and hens, but objection- 

 able in cockerels and pullets. 

 The face and wattles usually are 

 of a gypsy color, young pullets 

 usually having rather dark faces. 

 The surface plumage should be 

 a lustrous greenish black in all 

 sections. White in under-color 

 constitutes a serious defect, a 

 dull black being the ideal under- 

 color. 



It is well to occasionally breed 

 a female that is dull black in 

 surface color. This is a rule in 

 mating all black varieties. If 

 lustrous, greenish-black birds 

 are mated together for two or 

 more generations, some red 

 feathers may appear in the plu- 

 mage. Purple barring in the 

 black, the bane of black breed- 

 ers, results as much from mat- 

 ing together birds that have too 

 much green sheen as from lice, 

 crowded, damp quarters and 



Reproduction of the frontispiece to the 

 American Poultry Journal, Sept., 1886. A 

 pair of Mottled Javas as bred by J. Y. 

 Bicknell of New York state. Today the 

 old-fashioned splashed white and black 

 effect is gone, and the best specimens have 

 a black ground color, each feather neatly 

 mottled at the tip with white. A con- 

 structive breeder can make of the Mottled 

 Java as attractive a fowl as the now pop^ 

 ular Ancona, 



