PRIMARY POINTS IN BREEDING CARRIERS. 83 



well at any but a first-class show. These are very few — only 

 two or three in a season ; and this a strong hen should bear 

 without injury. 



In commencing to breed Carriers, we strongly advise taking 

 as primary points beak-wattle and beak, but laying as much 

 stress on good shape of beak-wattle as its size. Eye-wattle can 

 be got at almost any time by a cross from the large fleshy-eyed 

 birds, which often make good matches for those which have 

 otherwise good heads, but are wanting in eye. The beak-wattle 

 should, however, be always kept in mind, and no marked fault 

 in it on one side be left without a corrective. For instance, a 

 wattle of the peg-top stamp may very likely run small and 

 pinched towards the front, where it runs on to the nostrils ; 

 which is, indeed, one of the most common faults of any. Now 

 if the breeder should have in his loft a bird, otherwise fairly 

 suitable, of the walnut or spherical type of wattle, set perhaps 

 too far forward, somewhat as if a large marble were threaded 

 on the beak, such would make an excellent match, and be likely 

 to produce some excellent beak-wattles : showing also good 

 "distance" from beak-wattle to eye. Generally speaking, a 

 hollow or flat place, either on the top or sides of the middle of 

 the beak-wattle or towards the front part of it, are the most 

 frequent faults; and a wattle well filled there, or showing a 

 fairly symmetrical convexity all the way from back to front, is 

 always of high breeding value. Such a bird, unless the whole 

 wattle is enormous, will rarely be very crowded in the posterior 

 portion ; whilst those with large wattles, but rather hollow in 

 the front or middle, often are, the wattle seeming to make its 

 growth behind. Take it all in all, therefore, a tolerably 

 straight and massive beak, with wattle weU filled in the middle 

 and front, are the chief points. 



Great size of wattle alone, however, is always worth some- 

 thing. However hollow to the front, and correspondingly 

 crowded and overgrown behind, by matching it to a smaller 



