374 The Illustpated Book of Poultry. 



and put him to a hen or hens obtained from some good breeder ; but in choosing them jou 

 must select birds with the necessary points, viz., with smart, even combs, and pure white well- 

 shaped ear-lobes. Here, as before, if the produce is good stick to it so long as the pen will breed ; 

 but if you do not succeed at first you must change the birds until you get what you require. Any 

 one without such patience and perseverance will never make a fancier ; and while we use our very 

 best judgment of course, it is greatly by this experimental method the best of us make up 

 our Hamburgh pens, until we have got a strain of our own, when of course we know its qualities, 

 and can make up our pens with something like certainty of success. 



" I will now describe what Golden-spangled Hamburghs ought to be, beginning with the cock. 

 It will be understood that in choosing stock as above described for breeding either sex, the most 

 important sex in each case is to be chosen as nearly approaching the following description 

 as possible. 



" The cock's hackle should be a rich golden bay, each feather striped down the centre with 

 rich deep black ; the back a deeper bay, approaching maroon, and each feather having a green- 

 black spot, these spots getting more elongated as they get down the back, till on the saddle the 

 hackles become striped down the centre. The red or maroon should be very rich in colour. The 

 breast is golden bay, each feather well spangled with a rich black moon ; this spangling to be very 

 uniform, and not to overlap, but to show both black and bay ; the breast to be thus spangled from 

 the throat to the thighs, the spangling becoming bolder as it goes downwards. A laced breast is 

 objectionable (although many of such birds win simply for want of better), but a black breast is 

 now out of the question. The tail should be black, very full and long, and as rich in colour or green 

 gloss as possible. The bars on the wing should be double, bold, and regular, as in the Silver- 

 spangled breed, thin and imperfect barring being a great fault ; the stepping on the wing, caused 

 by the black crescentic spots on the ends of the secondaries, should also be good. The outer webs 

 of both secondaries and primaries to be a deep golden bay, but the inner webs ought always to be 

 black. The wing-bow, or part above the bars, should be rich maroon, with each feather spotted 

 with black if you can get them so ; this, however, is very seldom the case, still the wing-bow 

 should at least be very rich, and the ends of the feathers darker, approaching to black. The comb 

 resembles that of the preceding breed, and should be smart, full of 'work' or points, with a long 

 spike behind slightly pointing upwards, set evenly and firmly on the head, and quite level on the 

 top ; any hollow in the middle being a great fault, as the comb is one of the first points which 

 catches a judge's eye. The ear-lobes should be not only a clear white, but of a nice shape — as 

 round or circular as possible, and not long or pendent, but nicely put on the face. The face is 

 red, beak a dark horn-colour, eyes bright red, legs a dark slaty blue. The carriage is easy and 

 graceful. Size is not of much consequence if not very small. 



" The ground-colour of the hen is a rich golden bay. The neck -hackle is of the same colour, 

 each feather striped down the centre with deep green-black. The breast from the throat to the 

 thighs should have each feather spangled with a bold, rich, round, black moon. The tail is black, 

 the coverts being spangled. The back should be broad, and richly spangled, and the shoulders or 

 bows of the wings above the bars should especially be well spangled. The bars themselves are, 

 however, the chief point, and should show plainly as two bold and regular lines of spangling, the 

 want of which is a most serious fault, and mars altogether any other beauty in marking. The comb, 

 face, eyes, &c., resemble the cock's ; and, as in his case, size is not material provided the bird be 

 not too small. 



" Golden-spangled Hamburghs are only moderate layers in comparison to the other varieties, 

 the pure Golden Mooney on which they have been founded being very indifferent in this respect. 



