THE BANTAM FOWL. 



45 



light hens, always choosing a male bird for his small head, 

 tarried well back, with eyes full and bright, comb rose, 

 square in front and even upon the head the small points on 

 the top of the comb not too large, but rather slender, pointed 

 and evenly covering the entire surface of the comb, tapering 

 at the rear in a spike slightly Inclined upwards. 



The Standard of Perfection calls for a white ear-lobe, 

 but the sooner this mistaken fancy is obliterated the better 

 "Will it be for all concerned, for it is a point now ignored by 

 cur best breeders and judges, and a bugaboo to amateurs. 

 (This is an error, our Standard states, color of ear-lobe im- 

 material, etc.— Author.) A tapering neck, well arched, free 

 from any trace of hackle, is an essential point, as is also a 

 tail free from sickle feathers; although a male with slightli- 

 •covered tail feathers, not exceeding more than an inch be- 

 yond the others, will prove the more vigorous and best 

 breeder. Let the tail coverts be well and evenly laded, the 

 tail feathers free from mossiness, or the blending of black 

 "With the ground color in the web of the feathers, but rather 

 choose one with tail feathers, the body of which is pure 

 ■white in the Silvers and a rich golden in the Goldens, and let 

 each feather in the tail be also laced all around with black. 

 This point is too much neglected and we see only the tail 

 feathers tipped or spangled with black. 



With matings as above described, yon will hardly fail of 

 breeding many prize winners. As to the number of females 

 to be associated with the male, breeders sometimes differ, 

 tout we are in the habit of making up pens of one male and 

 eight and ten females. It is advisable to have for each pen 

 two males equally good, yet differing in some special points, 

 and then change them, allowing one bird to run with the 

 flock one day, and the other one the next day, and so on; 

 ty thus alternating the males the eggs are much more fer- 

 tile. We have always heard so much about the infertility 

 of Sebright Bantam eggs, but in all our experience, with 

 Bantams of every kind, we never had any such trouble. All 

 "these remarks apply equally tp both the Golden and the 

 iSllver Sebright Bantams. atherton. 



SILVER SEBRIGHT COCIC, A MODEL FOR STYLE 

 AND DISTRIBUTION OF COLOR. 



^^ Courtesy of Fanciers' Gazette, England. 



AN IDEAL PAIR OF SILVER SEBRIGHTS. 



the; ENGUSH MliTHOD OF MATING SEBRIGHTS. 

 BY P. PROUD, IN "THE FEATHERED WORLD," ENGLAND. 



In breeding Se- 

 brights it is much the 

 best to use two pens, 

 on* for cockerel breed- 

 ing and the other for 

 pullets. In the cock- 

 erel pen select a sound 

 laced cook, inclined to 

 the heavy lacing rath- 

 er than fine. He must 

 be particularly good 

 and distinct in breast 

 lacing and tail. This 

 is highly important. 

 The flights or wing 

 ends of the cock 

 should be well laced, 

 ground color of tail 

 clear, and take 

 care that he shows 

 the desired damson 

 color around the eyes 

 the more the betfter. 

 The hens to match 

 him should be lightly or flnely laced, but the lacing should be 

 a sound black, not edged with brown. Bach flight feather 

 of the wing should be d'isltinctly laced right to the end, tail 

 perfectly clear in the center, but every feather laced, face 

 dark mulberry. 



In breeding for pullets I should prefer the cockerel to 

 be very fine in lacing, but would at the same time require 

 the pullets to be rather heavily laced, as dense a black as is 

 possible to get, and at the same time the lacing must be dis- 

 tinct and even. The cock for pullet breeding should also 

 have a fairly good breast, a good comb essential, clear in 

 center of tail feathers, each feather laced, and well laced 

 wing-endB. As I said before, a cockerel 

 with a tendency to have sickles Is very 

 ■useful as a pullet breeder, and the eggs 

 by a "sickled" cock have been found 

 much more fertile than by others. On 

 the other hand, cocks possessing short 

 'tails have invariably been found to be 

 poor breeders. 



The hens in the pullet pen, in addi- 

 tion to being rather heavily laced, 

 should possess a good amount of lac- 

 ing down the thighs, tail coverts, and 

 tail, this is very important in puUelt 

 breeding. 



In breeding Sebrights always se- 

 lect a small cock in preference to 

 small hens, as larger hens are always 

 the most productive and the chickens 

 easier to rear than those ha'tched from 

 eggs from small hens, and on account 

 of the delicate nature of the Sebright 

 chicks it is at all times better 'to use 

 hens in preference to pullets in the 

 breeding pen, although if the pullets 

 are a good size and early hatched, I 

 see no reason why they should not 

 prove equally good. 



In conclusion, let me remind my 

 readers of the great value of inbreeding 

 in Sebrights, a breed in which color 



