Erroxs in Existing Descriptions. 307 



described by Mr. Douglas, and which would never win against symmetrical birds of the bright 

 orange-red so eagerly sought by fanciers. The eyes, again, are termed " bright, clear, deep bay ;" 

 whereas they should be bright-red, as acknowledged by all modern breeders. In Brown-red cocks, 

 also, the description is much too dark, and on the breast entirely different from the type of bird 

 generally shown. The hackle and saddle are described as "dark red," with shaft of feather black, 

 whereas a rich bright orange-red is the correct colour, with as little black as possible ; and the 

 breast is termed " reddish brown, streaked with black," without any mention of the laced colour, 

 which is now most generally shown and preferred by breeders. The neck of the Brown-red hen is 

 also given as " coppery yellow," instead of light yellow or lemon. The back of the Yellow 

 Duckwing cock, as described by Mr. Tegetmeier, would also be considered too dark by most 

 fanciers. Again, good Game breeders will not allow the hackle of a Pile cock to be white in the 

 centre of the feathers, which gives a wretched mealy appearance, very unpleasant to the eye ; the 

 feathers should be clear red, or rich bright orange-red, as in the brightest type of Black-red Game. 

 The latter breed is, in fact, the proper type of the true Pile, only putting white where the Black-red 

 is black, the other colours remaining the same, though marbling on the white may be permitted : 

 and this general remark brings us to the last error in the " Standard " which requires notice, and 

 which is so exactly and pointedly contrary to the truth as to be almost ludicrous. We refer 

 to the colour of the Pile cock's wing, the secondaries of which are, in the most unaccountable 

 manner, described by the " Standard " (the American following the English) as " white on the 

 outside web, red on the inside web, with a rich red spot on the end of each feather." The effect 

 of this would of course be that the lower corner of the wing when closed would appear white, 

 with a red upper edge : whereas the secondaries really are red on the outside edge, white on the 

 inside, with a white spot on the end of each feather, making the corner of the wing red or chestnut 

 with a white upper edge, or strictly according to the rule of maintaining — with the substitution 

 of white for black— the general colour of Black-red Game. 



The Scale of Points in the American "Standard" is equally absurd with the English, all the 

 points but one being allotted precisely equal values. It is understood that this scale was adopted 

 solely on the authority of one American breeder: and the result may show the folly of any 

 individual or individuals settling at a table what they think ought to be the values of the points ; 

 the scale in question being openly ignored by nearly all other fanciers, in spite of the added 

 authority of the English work, from which it is literally copied, except that the solitary point 

 whose value differs from the rest is otherwise selected in the American scale. 



The scale which has been furnished us by Mr. Douglas has long been used by him in judging. 

 By comparison it will be seen how very closely it agrees with our own ; indeed, the differences 

 observable are traceable almost entirely to the desire to arrange values in even "fives," and to 

 bring the whole within 100 points in the total. It is as follows : — 



MR. DOUGLAS'S SCALE OF POINTS. 



General Symmetry .,,......, 20 



Colour 15 



Handling [}.e.. Hardness and Condition) 15 



Head 10 



Eyes .10 



Neck , . 5 



Tail 10 



Legs 5 



Feet 10 



100 



