JAVAS AND WYANDOTTES. 233 



and clean; and the cock has a full and flowing tail com- 

 pared with most Asiatics, the carriage being very sprightly 

 and graceful. Two of the most marked characters are the 

 eye and the comb. The former is peculiarly large and full, 

 brown in colour, and of a characteristic soft and yet sprightly 

 expression, which can often be traced in less degree in the 

 Langshan. The comb is single, and rather low, with the 

 serrations barely perceptible at the very front. This also is 

 often seen in Langshans. 



Economically the Java is hardy, and a good layer of 

 brown eggs. The meat is very white and juicy, exactly 

 resembling that of the Langshan. The hens are clever 

 sitters and good mothers. The cocks, as usual in black 

 breeds not very largely bred, are very liable to red or gold 

 hackles, and to get rid of this and any awkwardness of 

 carriage, and select good layers, are the chief points in 

 breeding. 



There are white Javas in America, bred from sports, and 

 from crosses of these mottles have been bred, as no doubt 

 cuckoos could be. But such colours lose that magnificent 

 gloss, which is one of the attractions of the original Java. 



WYANDOTTES. This handsome breed is believed to 

 have principally originated in crosses between Dark (some 

 think Light) Brahma, Spangled Hamburgh, and Polish 

 fowls. The first has given the general shape, the second 

 the comb, and the third the lacing. It originated as a large 

 fowl with laced plumage, and so far filled a distinct gap 

 amongst varieties of poultry. The first bred in England 

 are believed to have been shown by Mr. T. C. Heath in 

 1884, and since that date no fowl, probably, has made so 

 much progress in both exhibition quality and general 

 popularity. At first the breeding of the recently-mixed 

 blood to any decent type was simply awful : from the best 



