85 



where white and black rose combs have been crossed for ear lobe 

 betterment and cuckoos were the result, and I feel confident that 

 the rose comb cuckoo is a sport from such a cross. Of the two 

 varieties I have always preferred the single combs. They should 

 be small, and in the rose combs you will always find them so. 

 Combs should be perfectly erect in both sexes, ear lobes red, 

 combs, faces and wattles red, legs white or mottled to match the. 

 plumage, eyes red, feathers finely and evenly marked with dis- 

 tinct bars or hands across each feather, and the finer the bars the 

 better. The ground color should be a very pale French grey 

 both in males and females and the bar's should be of dark slate 

 color. There should be no white feathers in tails or wings and 

 here is where many specimens fall down, as it is very difficult 

 to remedy this defect. Black feathers are often seen in hackles 

 and saddles^and although very much better than the white they 

 are not all desirable. In breeding cuckoos I would prefer a cock 

 bird, dark in color, and as fine in bars as possible. The natural 

 tendency of the breed is to revert to the broader and more open 

 markings, which are of very, much less value. You will get some 

 black and also some white sports, but I would never breed them. 

 It would be an easy matter to produce a strain of rose cOmbs by 

 mating a well-marked single comb cock with rose comb black 

 females and then mating a cuckoo cockerel bred from them to 

 the black females again, until the desired results were obtained. 

 Some of the snappiest little birds I ever owned were Cuckoo 

 Pekins and were produced by a direct cross of black and white 

 Cochin bantams and I want to say no more beautiful and inter- 

 esting variety lives, and as I said before, you have the necessary 

 at hand to get busy, and I sincerely hope you will, and at the 

 coming shows let us have again some bang-up, good cuckoos. 

 As a guide in case you should seriously consider my suggestion 

 and take up cuckoos, I will give you the points of color in the 

 Cuckoo Cochin bantam which I consider by far the most beauti- 

 ful of them all. 



Comb, face, ear lobes and wattles— Bright red. 



Eyes — Red. 



Beak — Orange-yellow or yellow, slightly marked with corn 



color. 



Plumage— Light French gray-ground, every feather evenly 



