HAMBIJRGUS.] 



POULTET. 



[hambueghs 



exactly alike, such an impression may, after 

 all, be more fanciful than real. Single combs 

 may occasionally, at rare intervals, be met with 

 amongst them ; but when they are of pure 

 blood, no variety of our domestic poultry 

 transmits their own characteristics to their off- 

 spring with greater constancy. They are, at 

 present, more frequently met with than the 

 gold pencilled, to which they must yield the 

 palm, so far as mere beauty of colour is con- 

 cerned. In this respect the latter are not 

 surpassed by any of the inmates of our poultry 

 yards. The cock, with the rich metallic lustre 

 of his sickle feathers, and the glowing hues of 

 the rest of his plumage, is a peculiarly hand- 

 some and brilliant-looking bird. There is no 

 difference between the two, except as to the 

 ground or foundation-colour, which in one is 

 golden, and in the other silvery white. 



"Mr. Edward Lowe, of Comberford, near 

 Tamworth, had a pair of the gold pencilled, 

 which formed part of the pen which gained the 

 first prize and silver medal for a cock and three 

 hens, at one of the Birmingham Exhibitions. 

 They were never shown elsewhere. This gentle- 

 man, who has been a very successful cultivator 

 of the variety, gives the following results of 

 his experience of them: — 'I find that a hen, 

 now twelve months old, which has laid about 

 five eggs each week since Christmas, weighs 

 exactly three pounds six ounces ; and a cock 

 bird, ten months old, weighs three pounds five 

 ounces. If in good condition, and at full 

 maturity, the cock should weigh at least four 

 pounds, and the hens three-and-a-half pounds 

 each. I have had them at these weights soon 

 after moulting, and before the hens commence 

 laying; but I find them produce such an ex- 

 cessive number of eggs, that they always feel 

 lighter in hand compared with their apparent 

 bulk, and no amount of food which they are 

 able to take seems sufficient to keep up their 

 flesh. I have never been able to ascertain the 

 exact number of eggs that one hen will lay in 

 a year, but I know that some of them have 

 produced more than two hundrea. ')Juder 

 very favourable circumstances, a single hen 

 might produce at least two hundred and fifty ; 

 but I should say about one hundred and seventy 

 would be the average for any given number of 

 fowls. True-bred llamburghs never show any 

 inclination to sit ; and this, which is considered 



by many one of their best qualities, might prove 

 a serious difficulty to many poultry-keepers who 

 are not able to keep another sort of hens as incu- 

 bators. I keep a good many game fowls, and the 

 two sorts work well together, though, of course, 

 I am obliged to have them on separate walks, 

 as the Hamburghs are very timid, shy fowls, 

 and easily distressed. When the chickens are 

 produced healthy and right, I always find them 

 endure quite as much hardship as any other. 

 Eor ornamental as well as useful purposes, the 

 pencilled Hambm-gh fowls are certainly un- 

 rivalled ; and I decidedly give the preference 

 to the golden variety, because they do not 

 show the dirt in a wet season so much as the 

 silver. Their plumage is equalled by none, 

 and their symmetry and qualities of flesh are 

 only surpassed by the game fowls ; and they 

 are the greatest producers of eggs of any breed 

 we have." 



In the formation of an estimate as to the 

 relative value of particular breeds of fowls, it 

 is important to consider not only the number 

 of eggs which the hens will lay in a given 

 period, but also the proportions in which they 

 are likely to be produced at particular seasons. 

 As chickens, the silver spangled are vivacious, 

 hardy, thriving little creatures. Tliey are 

 thickly clothed with dark-grey down, present- 

 ing a mottled appearance ; and it is not until 

 they are nearly full-grown that the true 

 character of their feathering is clearly mani- 

 fest. The cocks are not unfrequently black- 

 breasted, a peculiarity occasioned by the in- 

 creased size of the spangles, and from the 

 overlapping of the featliers concealing the 

 white portions of them from view. Many 

 persons do not object to breed from a bird of 

 this description, and some of the very best 

 chickens, both cockerels and pullets, have 

 emanated from such parentage. According, 

 however, to exhibition requirements, the breast 

 of the cock must be marked in the same man- 

 ner as that of the hen, or they will be deficient 

 in an essential qualification. In some locali- 

 ties the taste runs in favour of a black breast ; 

 but, according to accredited standards of judg- 

 ment, it is founded in error, and will not hold 

 o-ood. Their qualifications for the table are also 

 very considerable ; for although they are in- 

 ferior to some other varieties as regards bulk, 

 for firm plumpness they are unsurpassed. 



