yAFJXBSE Bantams. 467 



" One great difficulty in judiciously breeding Japanese Bantams has hitherto been that of 

 obtaining birds to select from for the purpose of crossing ; both imported and home-bred birds 

 having been scarce. Hence Httle choice is often possible ; but when an opportunity occurs so tliat 

 the breeder is fortunate enough to have birds to select from, he should choose a cock of good 

 carriage, with short, clear, yellow legs, drooping wings with black flights, body white, tail erect, 

 with long black sickle-feathers, showing white shafts, comb large and upright, with moderate 

 serrations, and wattles long and red. As very short yellow legs are an essential characteristic of 

 the Japanese Bantam, the hen should be very carefully chosen in that respect, with drooping wings, 

 black flights, white body, and tail large, erect, and fan-shaped. The hen's comb is crinkled. 



" The chickens of these Bantams are less faulty and truer to their parents than most other 

 breeds. Early chickens are to be avoided, as they cannot bear cold or damp when young. June 

 and July are, therefore, the best months for hatching these somewhat delicate little pets. The 

 time most fatal to the chickens is when they are shooting their tails and combs. At that period 

 warmth and stimulating food are of great advantage. 



" I have bred them more than ten years. The first I bought was a cock, imported by 

 Messrs. Baily and Son, being unable at that time to procure a pair. I afterwards bought a hen 

 from the same importers, but not being then acclimatised, I had considerable disappointment, and 

 was at one time inclined to give them up, as at first they would hardly breed. Perseverance has, 

 however, repaid all my trouble, and I am now able to look upon a large family of handsome 

 Japanese Bantams. 



" I may add that they are very quiet and domesticated, and less pugnacious than other 

 Bantams. The hens are careful and good mothers, and very good layers." 



There is another variety of the White Japanese Bantam, in which the cock's tail flows in a fine 

 sweeping semicircle. In perfect specimens, the centre of these feathers is of the deepest glossy 

 black, finely edged or laced with white, like the tail of a Silver-pencilled Hamburgh, but with even 

 greater contrast and definition of the two colours, the gloss on the black in good specimens being 

 marvellous. Such birds rarely fail to take prizes, but are very scarce, cloudy or mossy tails being 

 more the rule. 



A third variety of Japanese Bantam has been very successful wherever exhibited, especially 

 in the hands of the Rev. W. Serjeantson. In general shape it resembles the White Japanese with 

 sickled tail, but is of a cuckoo colour ; or rather, perhaps, a kind of irregular speckle, somewhat 

 resembling Houdans. These are stated to be fairly hardy and to breed freely. It is believed 

 that the progenitors of this variety originally "sported" from the White; and, accordingly, the 

 chickens are far from being as true to colour as could be wished. 



LACED BANTAMS. — The beautiful Gold and Silver Laced Bantams, also very commonly 

 called Sebright Bantams, are perhaps the most extraordinary proof of what can be done by careful 

 breeding which could be found within the pages of this work. So entirely is every feature the 

 result of art, and so well did Sir John Sebright (known as a skilful breeder of shorthorns and other 

 animals, as well as of poultry) keep his secret as to the process of manufacture, that for a long 

 period the most erroneous and contradictory accounts were current as to the origin of these 

 beautiful birds, some affirming that they had been imported from the East. After the death of 

 the right honourable baronet, however, truer accounts, obtained from various members of the 

 family, began to appear; and in the jfounial of Horticulture for 1865 was published the fullest 

 and most detailed account of the matter we have yet seen, as follows : — 



"It was about the year 1800 that the late Sir John Sebright first began to fashion the Sebright 



