62 



THE ASIATICS. 



believe that the bird was short in this section, but a closer 

 inspection shows you he is quite long in back, and it is only 

 the long feathers around body and legs that give the bird the 

 short appearance. While inspecting the chart place a piece 

 of paper over the lower part covering up to lower part ot 

 wings, and you will be surprised to note the difference in 

 the length of the specimen. The Standard in describing the 

 color o£ this section gives the same description as in neck. 

 There is a slight difference in the shape of the feather, as 

 will be noticed by a study of the chart. 



In Pig. 1 is shown a well proportioned, finely shaped 

 back and one that fits well this breed of fowls. In Fig. 3 are 

 illustrated some defective color, all three feathers in this 

 group taken from the back of one male, and still the back, 

 taken all in all, was far from a bad colored one, as there 

 were any number of nearly perfect feathers to be found. 



Defective Back Feathers of the Male. 



Feather No. 1 is light in under color, is not black enough 

 in center of feather and fails in the black stripe. If all the 

 featiiers in a section were as defective as this one the sec- 

 tion should be discounted two points. Feather No. 2 is 

 taken from just back of the wings, and shows a fairly per- 

 fect feather for that section. There is slight stripe of red 

 running through the center of feather, which should dis- 

 count one-half point. Feather No. 3 is one of the long, side 

 hangers, and is very defective.- It is too light in under color, 

 shows but little black in body of feather, and the stripe is 

 almost entirely lost. A back showing all feathers like No. 

 3 Should be discounted three points. 



BREAST. 



.Like back, this is a very important section, especially in 

 shape, and next to back is the most important from a breed- 

 er's standpoint. It is doubtful if there is in the Standard a 

 better description of any breed than the one used in con- 

 nection with the Cochins, which is as follows: Breast car- 

 ried low in front; full and well rounded, with great breadth 

 and depth. With this description and the Chart Fig. 1 the 

 reader should have no trouble in gaining a good general 



Defective Breast Feathers of the Male. 



idea of the shape of this section. You will note the breast 

 is carried low as compared to any other of the large breeds; 

 this gives our Cochin males a peculiar pose, and one that 

 harmonizes well with 

 their quiet, docile 

 disposition. 



In color the 

 breast should be 

 black, and in our 

 choicest show speci- 

 mens it is seldom 

 this section is dds- 

 counted in color. 

 However, there are 

 some defects that 

 show up, and in or- 

 der to explain them 

 to the reader, I call 

 your attention to the 

 feathers as shown in 

 Fig. 4. In feather 

 No. 1 is shown 



a faint trace of red on lower edge, and the discount is one- 

 half point, while feather No. 2 has red on both sides running 

 well down, and the discount is one point. Feather No. 2 is 

 one that crops out quite often in the pullet breeding males, 

 and is not considered a serious defect when breeding for 

 females. 



BODY AND FLUFF. 



This section has a valuation of eight points and 

 is divided, giving five to shape and three to color. 

 It will be noted in the division of points the Stand- 

 ard makers considered the shape of this section of 

 more value than color, and in most of the Asiatic 

 varieties this is true, but in Partridge Cochins and Dark 

 Brahmas it is doubtful if the scale of points should not 

 be changed, giving four for shape and four for color, as a 

 more intelligent card could be given in that way. However, 

 a full feathered Cochin must be good in body and fluff to be 

 Standard, as so much stress is laid on the rounded outlines 

 of these sections. In Chart Fig. I is shown a full feathered 

 bird, one that conforms to the new order of things and one 

 that we must admit makes a pleasing picture. In color the 

 Standard says the feathers should be black, but there are a 

 very few males that are entirely black in this section. Quite 



Defective Body Feather of the Male. 



often every feather in breast and front of body will be black, 

 still there will be quite a trace of red in the surface of fluff 

 and rear of body. The Standard description of body, like 



