26o 



The Illustrated Book of Pocltry. 



In breeding for the dense, very dark pencillings, a cock should be selected with the stripes at 

 base of the hackle a particularly dense black, and the saddle also well striped, as in the feathers 

 shown at Fig. 6"], which are plucked from a bird of our own that hardly ever bred a bad chicken. 

 Particular attention should be given to the shafts of the feathers, both in hackle and saddle, and 

 if they be very white the bird should be rejected. Indeed, this precaution is necessary in breeding 

 for any colour ; but most of all in this, because the dark colour of the pullets will make any 

 streakiness more conspicuous. We do not think we ever saw a cock quite free from white streak 

 somewhere in the shafts of the saddle or hackle, but there should not be much, or we have 

 generally found the bird bred streaky chickens. As the saddle merges into the tail-coverts, the 

 black stripes ought to become very broad, and beautifully sharp at the edges, with glossy reflec- 

 tions ; such a bird will rarely disappoint. The fluff is best of the same brilliant black in the 

 centre of the feathers, with a slight lacing of white ; and the breast may be either black or very 

 slightly mottled. The best colour for pullet-breeding, according to our experience, is small round 

 white spots about the size of pepper-corns, evenly distributed over glossy black ; but a black 



Hackle 

 Feather. 



Saddle 

 Feather. 



Fig, 67. 



breast, with the flufi" described above, will also breed good pullets, and for producing cockerels is 

 much to be preferred. Particular attention should also be given to the front part of the back, 

 where it is covered by the hackle. If there be plenty of black, dark pullets may be confidently 

 anticipated, the other points mentioned above being correct ; but they will often be too dark, 

 imerging into almost solid black on the back, with dark blotches about the breast ; though this 

 is not always the case, especially if the hens be of a lighter strain, when such dark cocks are 

 the best. But if the hens also are dark, a cock should, if possible, be selected in which these 

 black feathers of the back are laced with wliitc on the edges ; and he will in most cases, fluff" and 

 saddle being right, breed beautifully-pencilled birds. The wing may or may not have a very 

 small amount of colour in it, but not so much brown, as a metallic, glossy, copper bronze. This 

 should be situated towards the top of the wing-bar, and at the ends of the secondaries or quills 

 of the wing, but not in so great a degree as to be verj^ readily seen. The reflections of the tail 

 and wing should be either green of a bluish cast, or of a purplish shade ; we have found both breed 

 beautiful pullets, but there is always some diff'erence between the tails of the dark cocks and of 

 the preceding strains. The breast of the cock should in all cases be as dark, or rather darker, 

 than the fluff ; and for breeding cockerels, perfectly black-breasted birds should, if possible, be 

 chosen, that colour being much more valued in a show-pen. For breeding pullets, however, we 

 repeat that all our experience (and it has been great) teaches that a slightly mottled breast is 

 best, provided it be darker than the fluff, and the black be intense enough. 



