FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



153 



formed point, less sharp than the Hamburgs; 

 while the legs and feet are required blue, and 

 wholly free from the least appearance of a feath- 

 er. The feathers on the head are apt to get 

 dark from their wider margin of the lacing; 

 this, however, should be avoided, since a main 

 point of the Sebright is the preservation of the 

 same proportion of ground color and lacing 

 throughout the whole of its plumage. The ear- 

 lobe is small, and in our opinion should be 

 white ; but this is rarely, if ever seen, and many 

 would give a preference to a blue tinge. A 

 writer in the "Poultry Book" thus alludes to 

 this point: "In the Sebright. 'laced' Bantams 

 I have yet to see a specimen in which the ear- 

 lobe is perfectly white ; for although so many 

 have been bred by myself in the last twenty 

 years, all that I have ever yet had were blushed, 

 and many perfectly red in the ear-lobe. I freely 

 admit I should prefer the white, but feel confi- 

 dent that it is not to be generally, if ever, ob- 

 tained. I have also invariably noticed that the 

 usual whiteness of the ear-lobe is accompanied 

 by a sad falling off in the lacing, therefore, if 

 attainable only at so great a cost, it must not 

 be insisted on. Whether the ear-lobe is white, or 

 possesses the blue tinge, either form would place 

 the bird above those of its competitors, who, equal 

 in other points, manifested the decided red stain, 

 which it must be remembered is widely removed 

 from the blushed appearance before alluded to." 

 There are of the Sebrights two distinct vari- 

 eties, well known, one as the "Golden-laced," 

 the other as the " Silver-laced" Bantam, the 

 markings in each precisely similar, the great dif- 

 ference being in the ground color ; that of the 

 Golden is a purely clear bright bay ; the Silver 

 colored on the other hand, if decidedly a per- 

 fect bird, is a clear bright frosted silver, which, 

 from the very great contrast with the "black 

 lacings," gives it a decidedly superior appear- 

 ance to its less conspicuous neighbor. Every 

 feather from the head to the tail of a well-bred 

 .Sebright is "laced" or bordered all round the 

 edge with a line of pure black, about one-six- 

 teenth of an inch in width, and it is quite es- 

 sential that regularity should exist all through- 

 out the whole lacings, even on the coverts of 

 the Avings ; for if the line widens toward the ex- 



tremity of the feather, it becomes a fatal objec- 

 tion ; this is one of the most common failings 

 in these birds, and is the best obviated by a 

 little careful management in the selection of 

 " brood stock." The tail should be only tipped 

 with black, and the ground color ought not to be 

 clouded, but perfectly clear and distinct through- 

 out its whole extent. 



If possible, always breed this truly fashionable 

 and beautiful variety of fowls from old birds, 

 not chickens ; as, when so managed ; your suc- 

 cess will be far more certain. 



The chickens are hardy to excess, if kept in a 

 perfectly dry place the first week or two; and it 

 is quite necessary to enforce this, as the least 

 damp at this early age is certainly fatal alike 

 to your hopes and your chickens. 



The gait of the Sebright Bantam is the very 

 extreme of self-esteem, vanity, and self-assur- 

 ance, and when silently walking on a lawn in 

 search of insects in the grass, or hurrying with 

 the most agile and noisy impatience from the 

 too near advance of your favorite dog to some 

 friendly covert of evergreens, it is impossible to 

 conceive a more lovely ornament to your grounds, 

 or one that claims more general admiration and 

 astonishment from those who thus see them for 

 the first time. The feet are raised in walking 

 much more than in any other of the Bantams, 

 and planted again with the greatest deliberation 

 and precision. When alarmed, their deportment 

 is most striking ; the wings droop to the ground, 

 not listlessly, but as if determined to make the 

 most of their tiny proportions ; while the head 

 is thrown back, and the tail raised, so that they 

 all but meet. 



Characteristics. The Bantams are excellent 

 layers, sitters, and mothers, and perform all 

 these duties with very little trouble. As moth- 

 ers, indeed, they appear to the greatest advant- 

 age ; for their activity, courage, and gentleness 

 with their chickens place them above all other 

 fowls. Four or even five eggs per week each, 

 during a laying season, extending over seven or 

 eight months, is no unusual production. 



Our Bantam labors are now ended, and if 

 our assurance of their hardy disposition and 

 habits of domesticity, in conjunction with the 

 beauty of their form and plumage, should induce 



