5o6 



POULTRY CULTURE 



Fig. 507. White-Crested Black Polish 

 hen, owned by William McNeil, Lon- 

 don, Ontario 



cases are so conspicuous that they attract attention at once. The others are 



often overlooked because, if noticed, it is supposed that the failure to tuck the 



wing is due to fright from handling, 

 or that, in the case of cocks, the dis- 

 arrangement of the flights is due to a 

 slight slip of the wing in flirting, 

 which will soon be readjusted. This 

 fault is very common also in ducks 

 and geese. The breeder should make 

 sure that every bird selected for 

 breeding has perfect wings and can 

 carry them properly. Failure to do so 

 need not always lead to rejection of 

 the bird, but it calls for special care in 

 mating. If two birds with this fault 

 are bred together, the result is likely 

 to be a lot of offspring with deformed 

 wings. 



The shape of the head appurte- 

 nances — comb, wattles, ear lobes, 



crest, and beard — demands careful attention, for excellence in these points is 



essential in exhibition stock, and even if a breeder is not breeding for show 



or sale, and makes substantial qualities 



of first importance, there is no need of 



breeding birds good in other respects but 



with heads for which he has constantly to 



apologize. Birds selected for breeders 



should have these characters of average 



good quality for their type, and serious 



defects in them should be admitted only 



when a bird is so good in other respects 



that it is policy to breed it even with the 



expectation of discarding a considerable 



part of its progeny for its fault. As a 



rule, there are no irregularities in mating 



to meet Standard requirements in these 



features. The breeder mates birds having 



the character, in both sexes, as near as 



may be to what he wants. An exception 



is in mating to produce the male and fe- 

 male types of comb in large single-combed 



Fig. 508. White-Crested Black Pol- 

 ish hen. (Photograph from owner, 

 Charles L. Seely, Afton, New York) ' 



1 Figs. 507 and 509 show a very pretty, dainty type of Polish, as bred strictly 

 for fancy. The photographs were taken by the author in 1901 or 1902. Figs. 508 

 and 510 show a larger, more rugged type bred by a farmer who is a Polish fancier. 

 This i5 the style now favored by breeders. 



