APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING 



533 



Fig. 569. Black Sumatra Game cock. (Photo- 

 graph by Graham) 



surface color. Buff and red 

 varieties are especially prone 

 to white in the hackles of the 

 males, and the breeder of these 

 varieties should always look 

 for it there. 



In the black-white type and 

 its modifications, and to a less 

 extent in black varieties, the 

 white faults in undercolor ap- 

 pear. In most black varieties 

 the undercolor is a very dark 

 slate, but is sometimes a dull, 

 or brown, black. In the black- 

 white or gray color types white 

 is necessarily somewhat prev- 

 alent in undercolor, but with 

 so much white in the surface 

 its presence is often overlooked 

 until neglect of it leads to weak- 

 ening of the surface color. The 

 breeder has always to guard 



against the troublesome white in the hackle and at the base of the tail. Where 

 white and black are mixed, he detects it in the weakening of black. If he fails 

 to notice that the black stripe in a hackle is broken across with white just 

 under the surface, he soon finds chickens developing with weak striping on the 

 surface. If he overlooks a little white 

 at the base of the main tail feathers 

 and sickles, he soon finds white ex- 

 tending farther out on these feathers. 



In the ermine types, as in the red 

 with black points, a light slate under- 

 color, or a slate bar just under the 

 surface, is favored by many breeders ; 

 and, as a rule, more or less black is 

 found in the undercolor of birds of 

 this type which have good black points. 



In gray-barred fowls strong, clear 

 barring on the surface is preserved 

 only by careful selection for barring 

 in undercolor. It is not necessary that 

 the barring in undercolor be as clear 

 and the dark color as strong as in 

 the surface color. Some breeders of Fig. 570, Black Sumatra Game hen 

 Barred Plymouth Rocks tried for a (Photograph by Graham) 



