48: 



The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 



turns sideways or under the foot, the bird is said to be duck-footed, and is therefore considered 

 worthless. The scales of the legs should be small and smooth, fitting close to the leg. The wings 

 to be short, well-curved, and fitting close to the sides of the body, not drooping. The tail should 

 consist of narrow hard feathers, and be carried at a very slight elevation, tightly closed, so as to 

 give it a light graceful appearance. A wry-tail, i.e., carried on one side, is of course a disquali- 

 fication. The general appearance of the bird should be upright, bold, and fearless. As regards 

 the second point, good feather, all the feathers should be sound, narrow, hard, and wiry, and lie 

 as closely together as possible, so as to show the shape of the bird distinctly. In the cock the 

 neck-hackles should be short and hard, not meeting in front of the breast nor covering the 

 shoulders. The tail should be furnished with fine long narrow sickle-feathers. The following, 

 though highly objectionable, are very common faults, and should be carefully guarded against : 

 Short thick heads and necks, large crooked combs, white ear-lobes, short thick legs, long bodies, 

 narrow chests, broad rumps, fanned tails, long drooping wings, long broad feathers, duck feet. 



"The colour of the leading varieties is as follows: — The Black-breasted Red cock's face and 

 head should be bright red ; eyes vermilion red ; beak dark greenish horn-colour ; he^d and neck- 

 hackle clear orange-red ; back and wing-bow rich clear crimson, shading off to orange on the 

 rump-hackles ; wing-butts black ; wing-bar steel-blue ; flight-covert clear deep bay ; breast, 

 belly, thighs, and tail bluish black ; legs and feet willow or olive-green. 



" The hen's face, comb, ear-lobes, and wattles bright red ; eye vermilion, to match the 

 cock's ; beak, legs, and feet to match the cock's ; head and neck gold and black, the gold 

 predominating, each feather having a golden shaft and broad margin, with narrow black stripes 

 between ; breast a rich salmon-red, the shaft of each feather one shade lighter ; belly and thighs 

 ashy grey, with a tinge of salmon-red ; back and wings uniform light brown, or brownish drab, 

 every feather being very finely pencilled with black, so evenly as at a little distance to appear only 

 one shade deeper brown ; tail black, the outer top-feathers finely pencilled with brown, to match 

 the shade of the body. 



" Faults to be avoided in the Black-breasted Reds are : In the cock, black stripes in the neck ; 

 black markings in the wing-bow ; coloured feathers in the breast, belly, or thighs ; red shafts in the 

 tail-feathers ; brownish or rusty bars. In the hen, large, uneven, or blotchy markings on the wings ; 

 red or yellow shading on the wings ; too pale or too dark breasts. Yellow or daw eyes, and blue, 

 white, or yellow legs are considered bad for exhibition birds of either sex. 



" The Brown-breasted Red cock's face and head are a dark purplish red ; eyes the darkest shade 

 of brown ; beak black ; the head and neck-hackle are light orange, or brassy, striped with black 

 towards th& bottom ; back and wing-bow rich orange, shading lighter towards the rump-hackles, 

 which should match the neck-hackle ; shoulder-butts greenish-black ; wing-bars rich dark green ; 

 flight-coverts greenish black ; breast dark brown, almost black, but each feather having a rich 

 brown shaft and margin all round ; belly and thighs dark brown, with a lighter brown streak down 

 the shaft of the feathers ; tail greenish black ; legs and feet dark bronze, black, or olive-green. 



" The hen's face, comb, wattles, and ear-lobes are dark purple, nearly black ; eyes the darkest 

 brown ; bea*: black ; head and neck black and gold, principally black, each feather being black, 

 with a narrow gold edge ; the breast black, every feather slightly edged with gold, and having a 

 narrow gold shaft ; back, wings, and tail greenish black ; legs and feet to match the cock's — 

 the darkest bronze is best.. 



" The Duckwing cock's face and head are bright red ; eyes vermilion ; beak greenish horn- 

 colour ; head and neck-feathers clear creamy white, or very pale straw-colour, free from black ; 

 back and wing-bow clear bright orange, shading into straw-colour on the rump-hackles ; shoulder- 



