POULTRY DICTIONARY AND CALENDAR. 337 
ally the primaries contain the deepest color all over 
the body, except the tail; great importance is attached 
to their color by breeders. 
Pullet—A young hen. The term is not properly appli- 
cable after Dec. 31st of the year in which a bird is 
hatched, though often used during the early months 
of the next year. 
Rooster—An American term for a cock. 
Saddle—The posterior part of the back, reaching the 
tail, in a cock, answering to the cushion in a hen; 
often, however, applied to both sexes, eushion being 
more restricted to a great development, as in Cochins; 
“saddle” niay be applied to any breed. 
Secondaries—The quill feathers of the wing which show 
when the bird is at rest. 
Self-color—A uniform tint over the feathers. 
Shaft—The stem or quill of a feather. 
Shank—The scaly part of the leg. 
Sickles—The top curved feathers of a cock’s tail. Prop- 
erly only applied to the top pair, but sometimes used 
for one or two pairs below, which can hardly be called 
tail coverts. 
Spangling—The marking produced by each feather hay- 
ing one large spot or slash of some color different 
from the ground. 
Spur—The sharp,-offensive weapon on the heel of a cock. 
Squirrel-tailed—The tail projecting in front of a perpen- 
dicular line over the back. 
Stag—Another name for a young cock, chiefly used by 
game fanciers. 
Strain—A race of fowls which, having been carefully 
bred by one breeder or his successors for years, has 
‘acquired individual character of its own which can be 
more or less relied upon. 
Symmetry—Perfection of proportion ; often confounded 
with carriage, but quite distinct, as a bird may be 
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