168 THE PEOPLE'S PRACTICAL POULTRY BOOK. 



work. He could not account for this curious freak of nature. He set the 

 eggs of this product, but never had any of them hatch ; seemingly none of 

 them were impregnated. 



We now get, through the London Field, illustrations of birds of this 

 character, which we give in this connection, with a condensed report of the 

 same as made to the Field, by the well-known author W. B. TEGETMEIER. 

 He says : " The case of assumption of male plumage by the female as repre- 

 sented in fig. 1, is certainly one of the most extraordinary on record, for the 

 hen has not merely taken on the appearance of the male of her own variety, 

 but has become still more masculine. Every poultry fancier knows that a 

 Sebright bantam cock is what is called a hen-feathered bird viz. : It has a 

 square tail like that of a hen, and is destitute of the flowing sickle and saddle 



FIG. 1 BARREN FULL-FEATHERED SEBRIGHT BANTAM HEN. 



feathers and long pointed hackles that ordinarily distinguish the male species 

 of domestic poultry. It might have been anticipated that the barren Se- 

 bright hen would have only assumed the male characters proper to the 

 breed to which she belonged, such as a largely developed comb, elongated 

 spurs, and the masculine crow ; but this specimen acquired the long sickle and 

 saddle feathers and pointed hackles of an ordinary full-feathered cock, still 

 retaining the beautiful lacings or markings peculiar to the variety to which 

 she belonged. The hen died in the autumn of 1869, before she had quite 

 got through her molt, consequently the sickle feathers are not so long and 

 curved as they would have been had she lived a few weeks longer. She was, 



