Schedule for yuDGiNc Bantams. 



479 



great development of frame and constitution, rather than unnatural obesity, as the latter invariably 

 renders unfertile birds thus subjected to overfeeding. 



" Hence it is that persons who have claimed at exhibitions the prize pens of geese, turkeys, 

 and ducks, where weight alone has ruled the awards — at a price far beyond their real value — have 

 afterwards found them perfectly useless as stock birds, and proved also to their increased 

 mortification how impossible it was to make such poultry retain the weight at which these pens 

 were originally exhibited. After their death, I have had the opportunity of examining the livers 

 of many of these excessively-fed poultry, and found them not only of the colour, but also of the 

 consistency, of new putty. Even, therefore, in cases where weight combined with size is admittedly 

 most covetable, a fixed reference to scales only cannot by any means be desirable, or to be 

 exclusively depended upon. As a friend jocularly remarked to me some years back, ' Then you 

 mean to say, Mr. Hewitt, size, not fat, should rule the roast V My answer is still— Decidedly so." 



We cannot too emphatically endorse Mr. Hewitt's last remark, which may be usefully 

 read in connection with what we have said upon the same subject at page 148 and elsewhere. 



Our own schedules have been drawn up with care ; and Bantams being shown much more 

 than formerly, are more accurate than could have been the case some few years ago. 



SCHEDULE FOR JUDGING BLACK AND WHITE (CLEAN-LEGGED) BANTAMS. 



General Characteristics.— Precisely resembling the Hamburgh fowl, bat on a diminutive scale. Weight of cocks sixteen 

 to twenty-two ounces ; of hens, twelve to eighteen ounces. 



Colour of Black Bantams.— /« both &r«— Beak black, or dark horn-colour ; comb, face, and wattles, deep rich red ; 

 deaf-ears biilliant white ; eyes bright red ; legs a deep leaden-blue, approaching black ; plumage a deep rich black, brilliantly 

 glossed with green. 



Colour of White Bantams.—//: both A'jtw— Beak white ; comb, face, and wattles, brilliant scarlet red ; deaf-ears white 

 for English shows, but red for American shows [red preferable for appearance] ; eyes bright red ; legs white, or pinky white ; 

 plumage a pure and spotless white, as free from sun-burn as possible. [Some consider black legs admissible, but most judges 

 consider either black or yellow tantamount to disqualification]. 



VALUE OF DEFECTS IN JUDGING. 



Points of Merit. 



A bird, perfect in shape, style, colour, and con- 

 dition, and not too large, to count in points . 



For an extra small bird, otherwise good, see 

 Note ". 



jDtfects to be DciKctcd. 



Bad comb ...... 



Deaf-eai' faulty in colour 



(in black . 

 Lad colour plumacre \ 



^ i ,, wliite . 



Squirrel-tail . . . . . 



Too great size. . . . . , 



Want of general symmetry . , 



,, ,, condition. . . . , 



14 

 16 

 12 

 18 



•s 



See Note " 

 '5 



" We have found, with birds in average condition, that eighteen ounces in cockerels and fifteen ounces in hens are what will 

 fairly entitle birds to be called "perfect ;" and about one point should be deducted for the first ounce over this, two points the 

 second ounce, three points the third ounce, and so on, the deductions for eveiy ounce to be reckoned collectively, or added together, 

 while two points per ounce may be credited for less weights. But, as already observed, individual birds differ much, and it is the 

 of parent size usually iloioteJ hy these weights, and not the weights themselves, that are to be considered by the judge. 



Disqualifications. — Single combs ; wry-tails or any other deformity ; legs feathered, or any other colour than dark 

 leaden-blue, black, or white, respectively ; deaf-ears entirely of the colour excluded by the Schedule. Any fraudulent dyeing, 

 dressing, or trimming. 



SCHEDULE FOR JUDGING LACED BANTAMS. 



General Characteristics of both Sexes.— General appearance of head brisk and jaunty ; beak rather short ; 

 comb double or rose, as neat as possible (most birds now shown have a clumsy comb, with the peak tending downward which is 

 very objectionable) ; wattles medium size, and well rounded ; deaf-ears medium, and flat or free from folds ; neck taper, and in the 



