TYPES, BREEDS, AND VARIETIES OF FOWLS 415 



when first taken up by fanciers, 

 they were bred as three vari- 

 eties. Later the pea-combed 

 variety was dropped. It is said 

 that they were exhibited as 

 Rhode Island Reds at shows in 

 southern Massachusetts about 

 1 8 79- 1 8 80. No classes were 

 provided for them at shows until 

 about twenty years later. They 

 were not shown at New York 

 and Boston until about 1900. 

 For some years they were very 

 uneven in color, ranging from 

 buff to a chocolate brown, with 

 size and shape quite as variable. 

 Gradually the color was devel- 

 oped as a rich, brilliant red with 

 black in the tail and wings and a little black ticking in the hackle 

 of the female ; the size and shape also were made more uniform 

 and more in conformity with other American varieties of this class. 

 For some years after it was taken up by fanciers, interest in the 

 Rhode Island Red was mostly confined to southern New England. 



Fig. 425. Single-Combed Rhode Island 

 Red cock 



Fig. 426. Rose-Combed Rhode 

 Island Red hen 



Fig. 427. Rose-Combed Rhode 

 Island Red pullet 



