526 



POULTRY CULTURE 



FIG. 552. Rose-Combed Black Minorca cock 1 



ticking. This is the case 

 where the color is re- 

 duced to the minimum. 

 With more color pres- 

 ent, splotches of red, 

 and red feathers, as well 

 as black, will appear. 



In considering color, 

 in white birds it is nec- 

 essary to distinguish 

 between the creaminess 

 due to superabundance 

 of oil (fat) in the growing 

 feather, and the creami- 

 ness due to the distri- 

 bution of red. The 

 former tends to dis- 

 appear as the feathers 

 mature, and may be re- 

 moved by washing ; the 

 latter cannot be removed 

 without damage to the 

 feather. It appears as 



creaminess when little red is present ; as the red increases, it becomes straw- 

 colored, and the bird is said to be "brassy." Brassiness is always most 

 pronounced on males and in the 

 sections which are red in black- 

 red fowls. Usually it is of a dis- 

 tinctly yellow cast, rather glossy, 

 and appears to be on the surface 

 rather than in the substance of 

 the feather ; but sometimes it is 

 dull and seems to permeate the 

 web where it appears, and in 

 such cases it is likely to be found 

 in both sexes and in all sections. 

 Sometimes the red appears as a 

 faint bricky (in some lights, rosy) 

 tint in the white, probably due to 

 the combination of minute par- 

 ticles of red and black. 



The faults of white plumage 



are always plain in stock not bred 



. . J . . . FIG. CC7. Rose-Combed Black Minorca hen 1 



with care to eliminate them, and 



1 Photograph from owner, G. A. Clark, Seymour, Indiana, 



