THE BANTAM FOWI,. 



male to get good color. Have both as near the proper re- 

 quirements as possible. 



The female should in all the abtove features conform to 

 the male. Her shape and general form should be the same, 

 with the few exceptions of tail, comb and head, but always 

 of a more delicate or effeminate character. In the cons'idera- 

 tion of size, we hold it is just as bad to have them too small 

 or undersized as to have them oversized unless their vigor 

 and stamina can be retained. When too small their ability 

 to reproduce is more likely to be dwarfed and their consti- 

 tutional vigor impaired. No fowl of any kind is valuable 

 when these facts combine to destroy its real use. The proper 

 size of a Game Bantam is to be just as small as possible and 

 yet retain all the characteristics of the game fowl. We have 

 seen female Game Bantams that weighed under ten ounces. 

 Wp think sixteen ounces is, under all conditions, about as 

 small as a mature male bird has been bred and at the same 

 time maintained all the features of a true Game Bantam, 

 having proper vigor and endurance. 



We recognize by the American Standard the following 

 varieties: Black Breasted Red, Brown Red, Golden Duck- 

 wing, Silver Duckwing, Red Pile, Birchen, White and Black. 

 In addition to these there are the Malay, Indian Game and 

 Aseel Bantams. The Bantams recognized as Game Bantams 

 by our standard must conform in shape to the description 

 given above. As to color and markings, each variety must 

 be treated separately. In doing this we shall present the 

 views of the best breeders of both this country and England. 



BLACK BREASTED RED GAME BANTAM — MALE. 



not extend beyond the body, nor should any part of the wing 

 drop nor extend over the back. The shorter the wings the 

 better, and the higher the better, providing they do not lie 

 upon the back. 



The tail should be short, small, close folded, and slightly 

 elevated. The tails of both male and female should be formed 

 much alike, the male having a few short narrow sickle feath- 

 ers. What is called a "whip tail" is most desirable. The 

 breast should be neat, round and plump. We do not admire 

 the flat breast on either Games or Game Bantams, nor do we 

 advocate over-feeding till the crop becomes extended, which 

 spoils the bird's appearance. They should be fed enough to 

 fill out their breasts to their proper form and not so underfed 

 as to cause the shoulders to look narrow and spoil the whole 

 appearance. The sides and wings should be round, not flat. 

 In fact, the whole formation of the body should be round 

 and tapering towards the stern; the whole body coming to 

 a point, similar to the small end of an egg. 



The' legs and feet are of great importance. The thighs 

 should be long, muscular, and set well apart; in fact, well to 

 the outside of the body. They should taper to the hock joint, 

 which should be strong at the juncture with the shank, the 

 latter being long, clean, and slender, almost round, and cov- 

 ered with small, close-fltting scales perfectly smooth and 

 free from imperfections of any kind. The feet and toes must 

 be sound and perfect in form, the toes perfectly straight, 

 well spread and of good length. The hind toe should be set 

 low and flat on the ground, and should be perfectly straight 

 out behind, and not curved,' crooked, nor carried high. When 

 the hind toes twist or turn forward, it is a grave fault, and a 

 bird with this weakness should neither be shown nor used 

 as a breeder, because this defect disqualifies for all uses. 



Diminutiveness Is a most important feature and should 

 be secured by proper mating, not by underfeeding, for un7 

 der-fed birds can neither mature good bodies nor feathers. 

 Always remember, style^nd size come largely from the fe- 

 male, and color from thSHnale. Never use an overgrown 

 female Bantam to produ<re small stock, nor a bad colored 



BLACK BREASTED f?ED GAME BANTAMS. 



The face, top of head when trimmed, and throat should 

 be a rich healthy red on the cock bird; beak, dark horn color 

 preferred; eyes, red; head, neck, hackle and saddle should 

 all be of one shade whether orange or light red. We prefer 

 what is called orange, bright and pure in color and perfectly 

 clear from any sign of atripe or markings. Of whatever 

 color, it should be pure and true. A light red shading into 

 orange is a bad defect in color for the show pen (but for pul- 

 leit breeding, most desirable). The back should be a clear, 

 pure red of a slightly darker shade than the neck. No bel- 

 ter description can be given for the wing coloring than is 

 found in the Standard of Perfection, which should be studied- 

 by all who hope to breed these fowls, to perfection. The 

 shoulder should be black up to the meeting of the black col- 

 oring which extends down under the wings; wing fronts, 

 black; wing bow, bright red, or crimson, as it is called in 

 England. The wing coverts should form a glossy black bar 

 across the wing; primaries black, the outer web of the lower 

 feathers bay in color; part of the outer web of secondaries 

 bay; balance of feathers black. Breast up to throat, body, 

 stern, thighs and tail, black; sickles and tail coverts, lus- 

 trous black; shanks and feet, willow colored, of a greenish 

 rather than a yellowish shade and very smooth and free 

 from all defects. 



The female to be a perfect show color according to the 

 fashion of the day, must show a shade of color not strictly 

 as described in our present standard. We say the ground 

 color should be golden brown penciled with grayish brown; 

 the English say, one even shade of light brownish drab finely 

 penciled with black. The English fashion of color is win- 

 ning favor with our best judges. Our description is not a 

 perfect description of the color as accepted by experts. The 

 comb of the female should be small, neat and perfectly 

 upright, in color, red; wattles and ear-lobes very small, if 

 almost none are perceptible, so much the better, .but 

 the^ must not be. trimmed; red in color. The color, of the 

 head should conform to body color. If the body coltor is dark 

 the head may be of a darkish shade; but one even color of 



