132 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



the head, and regularly pointed, but termina- 

 ting in a single point behind, which should ex- 

 tend far back and consequently upward ; ear- 

 lobe, white and large ; wattles large, round, and 

 red; head small and fine ; beak, short and white; 

 plumage entirely white, with the exception of 

 the wings and tail ; the wings barred very regu- 

 larly with black ; tail ample, very erect, meas- 

 uring nine inches to the top of the highest curve 

 of the sickle feathers, which are of great length, 

 and with the rest of the tail feathers of a highly 

 iridescent black, their edges only being lightly 

 margined with white, silvering, as it were, the 

 whole plume. Mottled feathering is objection- 

 able in the tail; but comparatively few birds 

 attain the more perfect form described and fig- 

 ured on page 131. They are about sixteen inch- 

 es high, and weigh about 4 or 4 pounds. 



The hen displays the peculiar markings which 

 characterize this sub-variety much more dis- 

 tinctly than her mate, and as the penciled 

 feather is strictly applicable only to the Bolton 

 or Silver Hamburg variety, we may here give 

 a specimen feather. The ground color must be 



clear creamy white, and marked with at least 

 four parallel transverse dark bars, as if an art- 



ist had worked them in with a black-lead pencil. 

 The hen's head is very small and fine; comb, 

 double-rose, shaped like that of the cock, but 

 very much smaller; ear-lobes, white; eyes in 

 both sexes large and prominent; neck-hackle 

 creamy white, without a black feather ; the rest 

 of her plumage, even to the tips of the tail-feath- 

 ers, regularly penciled throughout; the tail 

 feathers often have a broad black tip ; legs and 

 feet pale blue, and perfectly clean and feather- 

 less; nails white. Under the belly is often 

 white, but the less of this the better. Spangled 

 feathers mixed with the white is very objection- 

 able as is also that confusion of coloring or 

 sprinkling of black among the white, which we 

 should suspect first obtained for such specimens 

 the designation of the " Silver Moss fowl ;" a 

 bird whose penciling has run or become blended 

 with the ground color, conveys a good represent- 

 ation of the erratic growth of moss or sea-weed. 

 Weight of hen about 3 pounds. 



Mowbray, to whom the merits at least of orig- 

 inality and practical knowledge ought to be con- 

 ceded, appears to have been acquainted only 

 with the English stock of this breed. He says 

 of the Bolton Grays : " This variety, apparently 

 the crack breed of their vicinity, but entirely 

 unknown in the metropolis, is described by the 

 Rev. Mr. Ashworth, near Bolton, Lancashire, 

 as follows: small-sized, short in the leg, and 

 plump in the make. The color of the genuine 

 kind, invariably pure white in the whole lappel 

 of the neck; the body white, thickly spotted 

 with bright black, sometimes running into a griz- 

 zle, with one or more black bars at the extremi- 

 ty of the tail. They are chiefly esteemed as very 

 constant layers, though their color would mark 

 them for good table fowls." 



The Bolton Grays, when bred to a nicety, 

 can scarcely be distinguished from each other 

 when apart ; and when so bred, there is not a 

 more beautiful fowl among our domestic poul- 

 try. 



They are rather impatient of confinement, and 

 succeed best when they can have the run of a 

 clean pasture or common. Seven feet fences, 

 where they are intended to be confined, will not 

 be more than sufficient height for their safe cus- 

 todv. 



