A GUIDE FOR KEEPERS OF POULTRY 29) 
In color the Dark Brahma cock has silvery white hackle 
feathers, striped with clear black. The back is a clear 
silvery white, the saddle feathers being striped like the 
hackle. The breast is pure black and the tail feathers 
_greenish black. The hen is a clear steel-gray in every 
part of the body, the feathers being penciled with three 
narrow black lines, running parallel with the edge of the 
feather. This variety is beautiful but not very useful, 
being slow to mature, rather poor layers and persistent 
sitters. Good specimens are becoming quite rare, and it 
seems that the breed, is destined to die out for lack of 
attention. Silver Penciled \Vyandottes and Silver Pen- 
ciled Plymouth Rocks are of the same color and Ameri- 
can breeders like them better because they are better 
layers and have clean legs instead of the feathered legs of 
the Dark Brahma. 
Cochin.—The ancestors of the Cochin family appeared 
in England shortly after the English obtained a foothold 
in China in 1843. The English found around Shanghai 
very large fowls of many colors, mostly ranging from 
almost white to a reddish brown. The Chinese paid no 
attention to color but simply bred for size and eggs. 
They were more interested in the food question than in 
fancy colors. Some of these fowls were sent to England 
where they were called Shanghais, Cochin Chinas or 
simply Chinese fowls. Probably about the same time 
some of the same varieties were brought to America, 
where they were introduced as Shanghais, Brahma Poo- 
tras, Cochin Chinas and as Chinese fowls. It is alto- 
gether probable that some of the same blood was used 
in both the Cochin and the Brahma make-up. It is quite 
certain that the modern Cochin in this country and in 
England was made up from crossing the red, yellow and 
