GAME FOWLS. 187 



patches, especially on the wings. The legs in both sexes 

 are willow or olive ; eyes, bright red. 



There is a sub-breed much used in breeding Black-red 

 game, called Wheaten Game. The colour is confined to 

 the hens, and consists mainly in a lighter breast very pale 

 fawn or cream colour, and the rest of the body a reddish 

 fawn, resembling the skin of red wheat. This colour is 

 bred by the lighter-coloured cocks, and hence is used to 

 breed brighter colours when the cockerels are getting too 

 dark. But with long careful breeding among the Black- 

 reds themselves these variations have become less, and the 

 Wheaten is gradually dying out. 



In Brown-reds, the modern cocks are now sought with 

 lemon-coloured hackles striped with black ; back and 

 shoulder coverts also lemon with a black centre ; breast, 

 each feather laced with gold or lemon on a black ground, 

 and the shaft of the feather also showing gold. Another 

 colour is similar, but the marking is darkish orange rather 

 than lemon. Formerly the lacing on the breast was dis- 

 pensed with. In hens, the hackle should be black edged 

 with bright lemon, and the rest a bright, greenish-black, 

 laced with lemon on the breast only. Hens without lacing 

 all black except the hackles formerly were fashionable, 

 and are sometimes shown still ; but the lacing is preferred. 

 The legs should be extremely dark willow, almost black ; 

 the eyes very dark brown, almost black ; the faces a very 

 dark purple or gipsy colour, red faces being almost disquali- 

 fication in practice. There is a sort of strong dark blood, in 

 fact, running through the whole bird. 



Duckwings are very handsome birds. The cock's face is 

 bright red, head white, hackle verging more to a straw- 

 colour lower down ; saddle hackles straw or yellowish ; 

 back, wing bow, and shoulder coverts rich gold or light 

 orange ; bright steel-blue bar across the wing ; breast and 



