nAMBUROlIS.J 



POULTKY. 



[iiAMBunons. 



black moons; bright red from moon to bottom 

 colour. 3rd, Uiglit: clear red. -llh, the lacing 

 or top oJ" llie wing ahove tlu- lliglit: large, 

 clear, bright, given black spots on the end of 

 the feathers ; clear red from spot to bottom 

 colour. 



2\til. — liright dark-green black ; full feathered. 



Z^-'/.s-. — CK'ur blue. 



General appeanmcc. — Best feathered hen. 



For a considerablo time our knowledge 

 rcspcctinc; tho diflVrent varieties of llain- 

 biirgli fowls was both imperfect and confused. 

 Mr. llallam, liowever, in his lUiistrations, 

 published at Birmingham, has done much to 

 dilVuse more correct ideas on this species of 

 fowl ; and as ho is regarded as high authority 

 on this subject, we acknowledge our obliga- 

 tions to him for the following observations : — 

 " Nothing, probably, has occasioned greater 

 perplexity to the poultry fancier, or interposed 

 more frequent obstacles to the satisfactory 

 prosecution of his plans, than the multiplicity 

 of synonyms by which the several varieties of 

 llamburgh fowls have been long known in 

 dillercnt parts of the country. For a con- 

 siderable time there appeared to be no help 

 for him ; and any ellbrts to identify one or 

 other class, under the changing and arbitrary 

 designations applied to them, were little less 

 arduous than tho attempts to determine who 

 was ' Junius,' or ' the Man with the Iron 

 3Iask.' If he had any faith in books, he would 

 naturally enough resort to some of the pub- 

 lished treatises on the subject of domesticated 

 birds, which, however, instead of extricating 

 him from his difScidties, only ' darkened 

 counsel by words without knowledge,' and 

 rather added to, than lessened his embarrass- 

 ments. The path of knowledge, proverbially 

 rugged and toilsome, was, in this instance, 

 beset with accumulated discouragements ; and 

 instead of receiving assistance, he was removed 

 farther than ever from the attainment of his 

 wishes, by finding, with one exception to be 

 presently noticed, the objects of his search 

 indiscriminately described as 'Creoles,' 'phea- 

 sants,' 'corals,' 'moonies,' 'moss fowl,' ' Bolton 

 bays,' 'Bolton greys,' 'Dutch fowl,' ' Chitte- 

 prats,' * everlasting layers' — and so on, through 

 a wearying catalogue of local and conflicting 

 terms. To simplify the nomenclature of the 

 llamburgh fowls, and to apply to each of their 

 specific variations such dcliuitions as would be 



easily understood and universally recogni.Hed, 

 was, thfrt'fori', a necessary undertaking; and it 

 may bo said to have been satisfactorily accoiu- 

 pliahed by the principlu of classification laid 

 down in tho prize list of tho great Binning- 

 ham Exhibition, which has become an authority 

 iu all matters of tho kind. 



" Of modern English Poultry books, that of 

 Mowbray stands first in the order of time, 

 lie speaks of 'the coral, or Bulton greys,' as 

 ' apparently tho crack breed of their vicinity, 

 but entirely unknown in tho metropolis ;' and 

 appends a description of them, by the Rev. 

 Mr. Ashworth, vicar of Tamworth, in the fol- 

 lowing terms: — 'Small sized, short in tho leg, 

 and plump in tho make. The colour of tho 

 genuine kind invariably pure white in the 

 whole lappel of the neck; the body white, 

 thickly spotted with bright black, sometimes 

 running into a grizzle, with one or more black 

 bars at tho extremity of the tail: they are 

 chiefly esteemed as very constant layers, 

 though their colour would mark them for good 

 table-fowl.' 



" The Hambuxghs are now classified in the 

 Birmingham prize list as follows : — 



1. Golden Pencilled Hamburgh. 



2. Golden Spangled Hamburgh. 



3. Silver Pencilled Hamburgh. 



4. Silver Spangled Hamburgh. 



The use of the terms employed to distinguish 

 what were erroneously called sub-varieties, is 

 entirely discontinued, all the llamburgh fowls 

 being included in the four classes thus enu- 

 merated. It should also be mentioned here, 

 that all birds having crests or top-knots, are 

 distinguished in the same list as Poland fowl ; 

 an arrangement now universally adopted. 



" The Hamburgh fowjs, however designated, 

 have been for a considerable time, and still are, 

 held in much estimation iu this country, on 

 account of their attractive appearance and 

 great utility. Tho silver pencilled have met 

 with zealous cultivators iu Yorkshire and Lan- 

 cashire, as ' Chitteprats,' and 'Bolton greys;* 

 ' Creoles' and ' corals' are tho titles they have 

 received iu the South and elsewhere. They 

 are handsome and prolific; though persons 

 wlio have paid attention to them incline to the 

 opinion that they are somewhat less hardy than 

 the others. But when the situation and other 

 circumstances in which each is placed are 



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