THE BANTAM FOWI,. 



head and neck is preferable and that should be golden Trlth 

 a narrow black stripe through the middle of the feather. The 

 beak should be a dark horn color. 



Back. wlngbowB and coverts should be one even shade 

 of brown, finely penciled with lighter brown; breast, light 

 salmon, shading into lighter color toward the thighs; pri- 

 maries, black or darkish brown; tail, bla-ck or dark brown, 

 the two upper feathers powdered with the same color as 

 back; thighs, light brown, and shanks willow. The above 

 would describe a standard female as per our standard. We 

 should prefer a female of a little dUferent shading (for we 

 think it more like the bird that wins the admiration of both 

 judge and expert), as follows: 



The general body color very even and regular in mark- 

 ings, of a color rather on a golden brown shade, finely pen- 

 ciled with dark brown or black; throat, light salmon; breast, 

 a reddish salmon, shading into an ashy color under the legs. 

 The whole color should be very even, pure and free from any 

 dark or blotchy shadings. This we consider a beautiful com- 

 bination for a show bird. Such a bird is most valuable as a 

 breeder. 



To breed show birds of high quality is an, art that can 

 only be learned by experience. A few general points can be 

 told, and when followed, su'ccess may be the result; but the 

 production of high-class specimens is the result of study and 

 patience. For the production of males, a perfect show male 

 mated to Wheatens, or females showing a reddish cast on 

 the wings, or females from a Wheaten mated to an exhibi- 

 tion jn!a.le, is the best for good results. The best of all is 

 regularly bred females from Wheaten hens by the best exhi- 

 bition males. If once you can establish such blood lines of 

 your own, you can hope for males of the highest order, but 

 till then look for only a small per cent of high-class males. 



For females, the best results come from males of one 

 even color of red all over. If the hackle and saddle shade 

 into orange, so much the better. Such males, with the truest 

 colored females, produce the best pullets. 



[REGENT ENGLISH DESCRIPTIONS OF GAME BANTAMS. 



The very latest writing of Game Ban'tams in England, 

 their home country, describe color most minutely by saying 

 that the beak, shanks, and feet shall be of a rich olive or 

 willow — any tendency toward slate suggests that there has 

 been a Duckwing cross to brighten the color of the 

 female; the hackle of the male, a bright golden 

 orange, free from any striping, and the saddle the 

 same (if anything the saddle should run lighter 

 than the hackle); back and wingbows a bright 

 stolid crimson. Our Standard calls for a light orange 

 neck hackle in place of the bright golden orange; 

 saddle the same as hackle; back and wingbows red. 

 We think this difference in description calls for a 

 lighter color with us; but the facts are, we actually 

 have' the very richest colors in Game Bantams. 



The same writings state that the present day 

 high class Black Red pullet must have a pale golden 

 colored hackle some shades lighter than that of 

 the male, each feather having a narrow strip of 

 black down each side of the shaft; the main body 

 color resembling the medium brown of a partridge 

 and each feather so lightly peppered with a darker 

 color as to produce one even soft color all over the 

 back and wings. A dark shade of brown, so 

 coarsely peppered as to give a dark appearance in 

 place of the soft, clear, even color is most undesir- 

 able. The clear even shade all over the back and 

 wings'is the desirable color to have, and there must 



be a total absence of any reddish shading about the wings or 

 in any part of the plumage. The breast should be a rich deep 

 broken salmon that shades lighter towards both the throat 

 and thighs. 



This recent English description differs from our Stand- 

 ard, which calls for hackle light golden with a dull black 

 stripe through the middle of the feather, back golden brown, 

 finely penciled with darker brown, breast light salmon that 

 shades oft to ashy brown. We should be more explicit in our 

 description of color. 



Another English writer, in telling us of shape and color 

 of the Black Red Game Bantam, writes as follows: 



"In judging Game Bantams, shape and style should be 

 the most important, although a nice rich color is very pleas- 

 ing to the eye. The male should be tall and graceful, should- 

 ders prominent and squarely set, back short and flat (a 

 round back being a Very serious fault), tapering off towards 

 the stern; the thighs should be long and muscular and set 

 well apart; shanks fine and round and as long as possible. 

 Flat shins should be guarded against. Besides counting 

 against the bird in the show pen, they are a sign of weak- 

 ness and care should be taken not to breed from flat-shinned 

 stock birds, as this defect is hereditary. The toes should 

 be long and straight, the hind toe carried as nearly as pos- 

 sible in a direct line with the middle toe, the point of which 

 should just touch the ground; although in cases where birds 

 have excessive style, there will be a tendency to carry the 

 back toe too high. This is a minor fault, but where the back 

 toe is carried sideways or Inwards this is a serious defect, 

 and amounts to disqualification in the show pen; it is com- 

 monly called "duck-footed." In some cases this is caused 

 by improper perches, in others it is hereditary, and should 

 be strictly noticed when making up the breeding pen. 



"The head should be long and snaky, eyes large and 

 prominent. In Black Reds, Piles, DUckwings, and Whites, 

 the color of the eye should be bright red; a light or very 

 dark eye in these varieties counts heavily against the bird 

 in the show pen. In Brown Reds and Birchens the darker 

 the eye the better, as near black as possible. The neck 

 should be long and fine, the hackle feathers fitting closely 

 together, wings short and nicely curved, and just meeting 

 at the stern, carried closely, well up. and fitting tightly to 

 the body. Three or four years ago there was a tendency for 



' /fa /A Hi 



l/?ui^j^ ^n/oiyiwyin 



BLACK BKEASTED KEO GAME EAMTAUS, 



