MISCELLANEOUS BANTAMS. 



Origin— Peculiarities— Prominent Defects in Breeding and How to Overcome Ttiem— English Methods 



of Mating — Standard and Non-Standard Breeds. 



Sebriahts (Golden and Silver), Rose Combs (Black and White), Booted Bantams, Sultans, Nanltins, Cuckoos, Scotch Greys- 

 Polish (All Varieties), and New Breeds, including,. Black Spanish, and Barred Rocks. 



HE American Standard or Perfection recognizee 



sixteen varieties of Bantams other than Game. 



The English recognize some thirty odd varieties, 



including their many colors. We shall tell you 



of these many varieties of Bantams, gleaning our 



information from English wri-ters as to those we 



do not recognize in this country. 



Our Standard groups the "Bantams Other Than Game" 



as follows: Sebright, Rose Combed, Booted, Brahma, 



Cochin, Japanese and Polish. We shall follow this order, 



and then the others referred to. 



In most cases Bantams were made, or produced from the 

 larger standard birds of the same variety. 



SEBRIGHT BANTAMS. 



We hardly think Sir John Sebright contemplated the 

 delight his production of Sebright Bantams would bring to 

 the fanciers of the present time. No fowls are better known 

 or more admired than the Sebright Bantams, and but few 

 less understood. That most charming feature, clear, well- 

 defined lacing, is so poorly understood or little appreciated 

 by many, that it often makes one stop and wonder at tlie 

 decision of experts who place awards on them. The so- 

 called Sebright of two pounds weight should be placed on 

 the spit to delight the palate of an epicure, but never in the 

 Show pen or breeding yard as a representative of his kind. 

 A good Sebright male should never go over twenty-four 

 ounces, and a female not over twenty ounces, whether old 

 or young. 



In the fall of 1896, we wrote the following for the Amer- 

 , ican Fancier, and consider it of value at this time: 



Before me are two articles written by two of our most 

 noted writers, judges and Bantam experts, the tone of which 

 calls my attention to the desired qualities of the Sebright 

 and their shortcomings of the present day. 



In the Canadian Poultry Review one of the above men- 

 tioned articles, from the pen of Mr. Babcock, calls our atten- 

 tion to the color of legs on the Golden Sebright, and his 

 statement I shall consider, for it covers a point so often 

 advanced by myself, and which deserves careful attention. 

 His statement is given in full below: 



"The Golden Sebright has blue legs, and it looks very 

 well with them, but did you ever see a Golden Sebright with 

 greenish yellow legs? If you have you have seen a sym- 

 phony in color, for then the legs harmonized with the plum- 

 age in a way which blue cannot. I know that such legs dis- 

 qualify the bird. I know that for the purposes of classifica- 

 tion blue legs — which are the correct thing on the Silvei^ 

 are the best But I also know that art is above standards 

 and the rules of classification, and that an adherence to art 

 would compel the Golden Sebright to have yellow legs. I 

 do not expect to see this change made in the standard until 



the time comes when many other changes, based upon aj 

 compliance with correct taste, are made. When that timfr 

 comes there will be many sweeping changes, especially in 

 the color of legs, of the different breeds of fowls. In this 

 respect the standard, while in harmony with market preju- 

 dices, is out of harmony with nature and the law of colora- 

 tion. The result is that the best successes now obtained 

 are obtained with great difficulty, amd they are far from 

 being what the second best could be under a differently 

 designed standard." 



SILVER SEBRIGHT BANTAMS -JOHN F. HACKER & BROS. 



These are very sweeping statements and worthy of con- 

 sideration, and while I should join the writer in the state- 

 ment that art is above standards, we must admit that tbe 

 laws of nature are far above both. This being the case, yel- 

 low legs could not belong to the Golden Sebright for the 

 following reasons: 



First, their origin, their advancement and their comple- 

 tion and make-up forbid it. Second, yellow legs do not from 

 natural causes belong to birds of their a«lor. 



As to the first we must consider origin, and on this- 

 point the best evidence gives us two very positive points. 

 One, the female used in the start was a very small buff col- 

 ored Bantam with clear slate colored legs, no doubt a Nan- 

 kin. Polish was also used, no doubt the Golden; also a cock 

 of a reddish color and a small hen resembling a Golden. 

 Hamburg. Three of the four we know had blue legs, and 

 we can feel almost certain that the reddish colored cock, 

 must have had the dark legs of the early Games, the major- 

 ity of which had blue or olive legs. The only cross used 

 that would indicate a yellow color of legs was the white bird' 

 used to produce the silver colored birds. The origin being 

 so positive in the leg color, the product had it well stampeiji 

 in the blood, and being the natural color of the original 

 before the hand of man began to work changes of form and. 

 color, it claimed supremacy and held it. 



