Black Bantams. ' 461 



" The following j-ear I bred from the best of these Black cockerels with the choicest red-faced 

 pullets, the result being pretty much the same as from the original White cross ; but as I now had 

 some idea of what the various coloured chickens would turn out, I destroyed at once all that 

 hatched entirely black, so that I had no birds grow up with red saddles. The strain of Whites to 

 which I refer was splendid in style, carriage, and feather, but rather strong in bone ; and the 

 consequence was that the chickens took after them, many being very large, so that some of the 

 cockerels might almost have been mistaken for small Black Hamburghs. I had, therefore, to 

 reduce the size, which I effected by careful feeding on diet specially adapted for the purpose,* and 

 by hatching them late in the season, allowing them to run with the hen the whole of the winter, or, 

 in case of failure on her part, supplying artificial heat. So successful was this process that it never 

 had to be repeated, and two of my smallest hens, which won ine many first prizes and were never 

 beaten, were hatched from a hen that weighed more than two pounds. 



" During the following winter my best cockerel was beaten (as a single cock) at a good show 

 by a rather short-feathered bird, which was small, and !iad moderate ear-lobes. This bird I was 

 therefore tempted to purchase as a cross. As to the cockerels this was a great mistake, as I had 

 not a single really black one from him out of over seventy chickens that I reared ; but many of the 

 pullets were little gems. With some of these I had recourse again, and for the last time, to the 

 White cross, using a nice blue-legged bird ; and by carefully selecting the best birds for about three 

 seasons, I succeeded in establishing my present strain of Black Bantams, which I think cannot be 

 surpassed, breeding as they do so true to points, that out of several hundred chickens I have not 

 had a dozen birds faulty in feather or with single combs. I may however add that three years 

 ago one of the most perfect White cocks ever produced, and which won its owner many laurels, 

 was bred from a sitting of Black Bantam eggs of my strain. For several seasons, of course, I have 

 been glad to avail myself of birds for stock from yards which have been established from my own ; 

 by which means, without crossing, I have been able to keep up the stamina of my stock to such an 

 extent that some birds two and three years old carry as much and as good feather as usually 

 carried by early-bred cockerels. 



"This is one of the most beautiful of the fancy varieties of poultry; and though generally 

 looked upon as a strictly ornamental breed, yet I claim for it a place second to none (the 

 Hamburgh excepted) for egg-producing properties, and for the returns they will give for the outlay 

 in food ; as most of them are almost incessant layers of comparatively good-sized eggs, except 

 during the coldest winter months, when few varieties can be relied upon for that purpose. Some of 

 the hens are very keen sitters, and these always prove the best of nurses, defending their j'oung 

 most pluckily against all enemies ; though many never become broody, and I have at present 

 several hens nine or ten years old that have never evinced the least desire to rear a family. 



"Adult birds are very hardy and the chickens pretty easily reared, although during the 

 attainment of the first feathers they require much care, for if neglected at that time many of them 

 droop and die. At an early age they are very pugnacious, the cockerels often commencing to 

 fight most determinedly at the age of five or six weeks. The whole of a brood generally presents 

 a most disreputable and pitiable appearance at the end of a day's campaign — some dying and 

 others being scalped or otherwise permanently injured — though when about twelve weeks old they 

 will settle down and agree much better, chickens of different broods seldom attacking each other, 

 even if kept together long after tliey are full grown. The pullets also are very precocious, and 

 if bred in the spring months, and well fed, they will often commence laying at from fifteen to 

 seventeen weeks old. 



* See remarks on rearing Eanlams, p. 476. 



