128 BREEDS. 



and quick. Much, importance is attached to 

 the redness of the ear-lobe. Birds, good in 

 other respects, have often a whiteness in it, 

 and this is, no doubt, owing to defective breed- 

 ing. 



" Although I myself have never seen a cock 

 over two years with the lobe perfectly red, stUl 

 it is a point to be aimed at, and is, I believe, 

 quite attainable. 



" The colour of the plumage must be particu- 

 larly attended to. 



" The bluish-grey mottled appearance of these 

 birds depends upon the pencilling of the feathers 

 (otherwise white), by broad grey marks across 

 them. Their beauty depends on the strength, 

 without blackness, of these markings, especially 

 at the feather tips, and the purity of the inter- 

 vening white ground. These, together, give a 

 mottled aspect like snow flakes, and this is best 

 observed ia the hens and half-grown chickens. 



" The greatest defect in colour is the indis- 

 tinctness and muddling of the grey and the 

 white. 



" The whiteness of the flight and sickle feathers 



