520 POULTRY CULTURE 



made by skillful breeders with good results. The barring is becoming narrower 

 and more distinct, and the general color tone darker. It seems plain that a 

 time will come when the two Unes of the Barred Rock will be one, but how 

 soon no one can say. At the present stage of their development they are 

 satisfactorily fused only by breeders of great skill, thoroughly familiar with 

 the breeding of both lines of stock used, and by them only occasionally. Nor 

 is the result at this stage to start a new line on the single-mating system ; it 

 simply starts a new family on one of the old lines. 



While the Standard specifies that bars shall be straight across the feather, 

 uniform in width, distinct, and free from any brownish or greenish tinge, such 

 perfection of color and pattern appears in only a small proportion of specimens. 

 The bars on many birds still tend to the crescentic form once prevalent even 



in well-bred stock. A common fault in 

 barring is the breaking of the bar as it 

 crosses the shaft of the feather, the part in 

 each web being straight but not matching 

 at the quill. In the flight feathers of the 

 wings good clear barring is comparatively 

 rare, the bars presenting more of the un- 

 even appearance described as " marbled." 

 The brown and green tinges in the dark 

 bars, often seen in both males and females, 

 give the surface color a muddy, dirty look. 

 Fig. 539. Showing remarkable Both are likely to be most conspicuous on 

 wing of Columbian Wyandotte the backs of males but appear in all sec- 

 pullet in Fig. 421 1 tions. All these faults should be carefully 

 avoided in selecting breeders. A pair free 

 from them is worth more to the breeder than any number of birds in which 

 they are prevalent. Feathers wholly or partly black are found in varying 

 numbers in nearly all barred fowls. Unless they are large or conspicuously 

 abundant, a good bird should not be discarded for them. It is practically im- 

 possible to breed them out entirely. 



The color of the beak and shanks in the Barred Plymouth Rock male is 

 usually of the yellow demanded by the Standard. In the Standard female a 

 perfectly clean yellow beak and leg is rare. The Standard allows a little dark ' 

 stripe on the beak. Nearly all pullets show some dark spots on the shanks 

 after they begin to lay, if not earlier. The females of the male line have 

 quite darkly shaded beaks and legs. 



Mating the ermine ^ color type. White with black points — that is, black 

 on neck, wings, and tail — is the color of the Light Brahma, Columbian 



' Photograph from owner. Sunny Brook Farm, West Orange, New Jersey. 



2 A variety called the Erminette, white with black spots in the plumage, the 

 converse of the Houdan, was at one time bred in America, and there may still 

 be some in existence. As long as the Light Brahma was the only distinct variety 

 bred white with black points, the term " light," describing the bird as light in color 



