322 



The Illostrated Book op Poultr\. 



cocks will show some grizzling on the thighs, but will not on that account breed any worse 

 chickens. The hen should have body, back, and wings of a soft silvery-grey, perfectly free from 

 red or reddish tinge ; breast of a robin-red or salmon colour ; and neck-hackle as silvery as 

 possible, with a fine distinct black stripe down the centre of the longer feathers. The most 

 common faults in the hen are, either distinctly reddish feathers in the wing, or a slight brownish 

 tinge all over the body. It may be observed that the latter of these faults seems to increase with 

 age, while the former, on the contrary, decreases ; and I have had birds very faulty in this respect 

 as pullets, which in the second moult entirely lost the reddish feathers, and became perfectly silvery. 

 The breast-colour of the hen may vary from robin-red to pale salmon-colour ; the latter is 

 generally found with the most silvery general colouring, but I believe that the largest birds are 



Hackle. Wing. Back. 



Fig. 77. — Feathers of Silver-grey Dorking Hen. 



almost always of the deeper colour. The colour of the hen whose portrait is given is between the 

 two ; she is a very large-framed bird, hatched rather late in 1871, and was never shoavn till she won 

 second prize at Birmingham in 1872. 



" The mating of Silver-greys for breeding requires g^eat care, and knowledge of the pedigree of 

 both cocks and hens. In all sub-varieties purity of blood is only a question of degree, and hence 

 there is always danger of 'breeding back' to some points distinguishing the common ancestor of 

 more than one stock. Never buy chance Silver-greys for breeding,* but select from a stock which 

 has long been bred with care. A cock to all appearance correct in every point will often produce 

 pullets with red wings, or even sandy-coloured all over ; while, on the other hand, good-looking 

 hens will breed cockerels with speckled breasts and tails. For the most part, it is true, both parents 

 in these cases will produce birds of their own sex like themselves ; but the penning of separate 



* See our remarks on this very point at p. 119. 



