APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING 531 



Fig. 565. Single-Combed Buff Leghorn 

 pullet, very sound color ^ 



This white often appears as white 

 at the base of the feathers next the 

 skin all over the bird. The amount 

 of white may be small or it may be 

 considerable. There are two places 

 on the fowl where this white tends 

 especially to crop out, the tendency 

 being particularly strong in the 

 male, — at the base of the tail and 

 on the back of the neck, in the 

 hackle. In poorly bred males of 

 this color type white at the base of 

 the tail is conspicuous and may 

 extend for some distance on the 

 main tail feathers. It is hard to 

 eliminate entirely even in well-bred 

 birds. It is more noticeable in 

 Games and Brown Leghorns than 



in Cochins, Wyandottes, and Plymouth Rocks, because the tail is larger and 



the saddle feathers are less profuse. The white in the neck, unless very bad, 



does not show on the surface. If present, it may be found by parting the 



feathers of the hackle, or cape. 



Sometimes it is there for one 



third or one half the length of 



the feathers when no sign of 



it is seen on the surface. 



In the individual bird such 



defects, if not conspicuous on 



the surface, are not of great 



importance, but as they occur 



in most pronounced form in 



the males, and a female show- 

 ing them slightly or not at all 



may be the daughter of a male 



in which they were very bad, 



unless the breeder is sure of 



his females it is doubly nec- 

 essary that he should avoid 



breeding from males with 



such faults. 



In the modified black-red 



types the tendency is to lighter 



undercolor. As long as white does not break out, some diminution of the 



intensity of the slate color is not objectionable. 



1 Photograph from owner, Monmouth Poultry Farm, Freneau, New Jersey. 



Fig. 566. Single-Combed Buff Leghorn cock- 

 erel ; shy, and would not pose to show style ^ 



