CHARACTERISTICS OF BREEDS 225 
cuckoo-coloured, but there are also White and Buff varieties. 
The Buff is one of the hardiest of fowls, suitable for cold and 
damp, and second to none as a winter layer. All the Rocks are 
keen foragers and on free range will find a lot of their food. The 
chickens are very hardy, but take from eight to nine months to 
mature. 
REDCAPS 
A very old English variety, best known in the Midlands and 
Yorkshire. They are prolific egg-layers and are said to do as well 
in their second year as in their pullet year. They rarely become 
broody and they make excellent eating. Redcaps have exception- 
ally large rose combs, not unlike that of the Hamburgh. March 
or April are the best months for hatching. The chickens are easy 
to rear. 
Ruovpe Istanp Reps 
No variety has come to the front of recent years more quickly 
than the Rhode Island Red. It takes its name from the American 
island of that name, where it was first bred. This beautiful bird 
was the product of successive crosses between the Red Malay, 
Chittagong and the Shanghai, together with the birds already in 
existence at Rhode Island. It is believed that the Brown Leghorn 
also enters into its composition. Although it is only a few years 
since this bird became acclimatised in England, it has done extra- 
ordinarily well, and as a general purpose fowl comes next in popu- 
larity to the White Wyandotte. To prophesy is dangerous as 
well as gratuitous, but few who know the trend of things would 
be surprised were the Rhode Island Red to seriously challenge the 
popularity of the White Wyandotte. It is largely a question of 
egg-production. Let the Rhode Island once equal the Wyandotte 
as an egg-producer—and it is making great progress—and it would 
become everybody’s fowl. It is a handsome bird, not too broody, 
taking to the eye, tame—almost domesticated—easy to rear, 
hardy, and the layer of rich brown eggs. It is also an excellent 
table bird, but that is the last thing one thinks about when talking 
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