176 THE PRACTICAL POULTRY KEEPER. 



clear blue-white, and not creamy. In the hen, the 

 hackle arid spot where it falls between the shoulders are 

 marked with black like the cock, but her cushion is white. 

 Some birds, however, have white fluff. Tail and inner 

 flights and leg-feather as in the cock. 



The great difficulty in breeding Light Brahmas is to get 

 sufficient of the black marking, without getting black marks 

 or splashes in undesirable places. There is a constant 

 tendency to produce spotted backs^in particular, the black, 

 wh-lch seems to saturate the feather, having a tendency to 

 break out on the surface ; hence, dark under-fluff should be 

 mated with light, or with white under-colour. As a rule, 

 pullets are best bred from hens with rather too dark 

 hackles, and a cock sharply but slightly under-marked ; 

 cockerels from the reverse. The black stripes should run 

 well up the feather, and come well round the front of the 

 neck as well as behind. Many birds have been shown 

 evidently crossed with white Cochins ; but the result is 

 loose feather and fluff, and mossy hackles. It is to be 

 regretted that the judges have given prizes to this model. 



In Dark Brahma cocks the head is silvery white, running 

 into a silvery white hackle sharply striped with black. The 

 breast, under parts, and fluff are dense black for exhibition. 

 At one time the breast might be mottled with small white 

 spots, and this marking is most valuable for pullet-breeding; 

 but fashion is now against it, as it also is against any white 

 margin to the feathers of the fluff, which is also valuable for 

 breeding pullets. The back is white, with a little black 

 marking between the shoulders ; saddle-feathers silvery 

 white, striped with black ; tail coverts more and more filled 

 up with dense green black as they approached the tail, 

 which is glossy green-black. The shoulders of the wings 

 are silvery white, with more or less of black run through it ; 

 secondaries white on outer web, and partially black on inner 



