24 



THE ASIATICS. 



arched to the point, yellow in color, striped with dark brown 

 color or black in the upper mandible and the under beak 

 should be yellow. The beak in the female may be yellow, 

 or yellow striped with a dark color. In the male the face 

 deep red; eyes red, large and bright; ear-lobes large and 

 pendant; wattles well developed and hanging, their lower 

 edge being well rounded on a line with the lower edge of 

 ear-lobes. The face, ear-lobes and wattles should be rich 

 crimson. In the females all these features are much smaller 

 in comparison with the male, and the wattles are closely 

 rounded to the throat. 



The skull should be large, with heavy brows overhang- 

 ing the eyes. Especially should this be prominent in the 

 male, as seen in our perfect model. Heavy ear-lobes, long 

 and pendulous, with wattles that are large and long enough 

 to place their lower line on a level with lower point of ear- 

 lobes, are the conditions that insure s rong, procreative 

 power. In early days cocks with only rudimentary wattles 



Defective Hackle Feathers of the Male. 



were disqualified and ought to be to-day, for they are worth- 

 less, save only as poultry meat. 



The defects of head and its adjuncts are generally: Nar- 

 row in skull, depressed in front of eyes; for these cut one 

 point; eyes, when not bay or red, one-half point; rudimen- 

 tary wattles, one-half to two and one-half, and when entire- 

 ly absent, the specimen should be disqualified. 



THE COMB 



The comb is what is called a pea comb. It is like three 

 small combs joined together at the front and base, the side 

 divisions merging with the center division near its rear 

 point. The channel between the center and side divisions 

 should be deep enough so that if all the small points were 

 frozen off the comb would still show its three divisions. In 

 .an absolutely perfect comb the center division should have 



seven small points and the sides each five points. The top 

 line of the comb should follow the curve of the skull. While 

 we may say that the comb is small, it is still in keeping with 

 the size of the bird. In the female the comb is very much 

 smaller in proportion to the weight of the specimen, in fact, 

 the smaller the better, so that it is perfect in shape, rt is 

 of .the same shape as the comb of the male and is subject 

 to the same cuts. 



A comb may be ever so perfect in its three divisions, 

 yet so thin at base and junction with skull as to flop from 

 side to side of the head. Such a specimen would be disquali- 

 fied; yet a comb, if from some cause it leans to one side, but 

 is firm in its position, would be cut from one-half to one and 

 one-half for failing to stand erect upon the head in a straight 

 line from front to rear. The comb could be gross and large 

 with crumpled or serpentine divisions, the channels between 

 the divisions so slight "that were the small points frozen or 

 shaved off, the comb would be literally a short, single piece 

 of comb flesh. In both these cases we think the defect could 

 be so aggravated as to be cut one-half to two points, and 

 when loose at junction with the skull, we would withhold 

 all score card record as being a specimen unworthy of recog- 

 nition as a thoroughbred. If the comb should be single or 

 so defective otherwise as to stultify standard description, we 

 would also- pass it by. 



If it is too large, but still stands erect, it 

 would be cut one point for size. On the middle division, 

 if the points are so large and wide that they crowd in a 

 zig zag way, although side divisions are all right it de- 

 mands a cut of one point. Taken altogether (size and 

 shape), even if the comb were erect, a cut of two points 

 would be demanded. There is another style of comb fre- 

 quently seen, a short, very small comb, stubbed off at rear, 

 which causes the bird to look like a man six feet tall, wear- 

 ing a very small boy's hat. The comb on some birds 

 has but four points in the middle and three points on the 

 sides, and the channels are not deep, though straight and 

 stiff upon the head. Such a comb should be cut fully three 

 points. Want of development should always be cut with 

 more severity than over-development. I believe in a gener- 

 ous development of comb and all head embellishments, for 

 it denotes procreative work. Diminutive combs are surely 

 an indication of failing productive power. 



THE NECK. 



The. neck should be medium in length and prominent 

 in its juncture with the head, nicely arched to the center, 

 the hackle then falling in a concave sweep, completely cov- 

 ering the shoulders. Each hackle feather must have a black 

 stripe the full length of the web, ending in a fine point at 

 or near the end of the feather. The black stripe must show 

 a rich green sheen for fully three-fifths of its length, and the 

 white must form a complete edge the full length of the web. 

 The under-fluff may be either black, dark slate or white, 

 neither having the preference in the show room. The throat 

 should be white. 



In the fomale the neck appears shorter and has the same 

 arch and concave sweep that it has in the male. The feathers 

 in the female are more correctly described as black edged 

 with white. The hackle should cover the cape when the 

 head is thrown back, which gives apparent fulness to the 

 breast. 



In this section there are seldom defects in shape so glar- 

 ing but they are overshadowed by color defects. Yet if th« 

 neck be short and the effect be that known as Cochin shape, 

 or if the neck be of sufficient length, but head carried so far 

 forward as to give the feature too straight a poise, it should 



