BANTAMS 
HERE was once only one kind of 
bantam. If we should ask our grand- 
parents what they knew about ban- 
tams in their childhood, they would 
tell us many stories of the ‘‘Banties’’ which were 
their pets; they were reddish in color with tufted legs, 
and with tails so up in the air that they almost touched 
the neck, and were possessed of a fighting spirit 
big enough for an ostrich. In fact, these ‘‘Banties’’ 
usually were kept apart from the other poultry 
because the little rooster had so much more valor 
than judgment that he did not hesitate to attack a 
Shanghai cock, and would fight until he had not 
strength enough left to peck. Those Bantams 
were probably of the original race which were ship- 
ped to Europe it is said, from Bantam, in the west 
of the Island of Java. But Mrs. Skidmore assures 
us that in Bantam they have fowls so tall that 
they can take food off the dinner table standing and 
that the spirited little fowls called Bantams were 
introduced into Java from a trading junk probably 
from Japan or China. But strange to say, this 
breed is practically lost, although it was once well 
scattered over Europe and America. 
The Bantams we have to-day are pigmies of large 
fowls for the most part, bred true to color and form 
in many instances. Smallness in a Bantam is a de- 
sirable quality. The Standard of Perfection recog- 
nizeseight or nine game Bantams, and about eighteen 
ornamental varieties. While the keeping of Ban- 
tams for eggs is scarcely possible so far as markets 
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