134 
The Australasian Book of Poultry. 
shoulders; breast, deep, full, and broad ; shoulders broad and well up; back, short, and slightly hollow 
between the shoulders, and rising upwards into a broad saddle, the whole finishing with a broad, open, and 
almost upright short tail. I like to see the saddle behind as wide as the shoulders ; wings short, prominent 
at the butts, and the ends nicely clipped under the saddle hackles ; legs, short, stout, set on wide apart ; 
thighs, shanks, and feet to be fully furnished with feathers right to the ends of the centre and outer toes. 
The feathers on the hocks should curl round on the inside, and not stand out stiff and prominent, the latter 
being a great blemish, and known as vulture hocks. The eyes should be either pearl-yellow or red, (the 
latter preferred), the legs and beak yellow. Colour of Light Brahmas. — In both sexes. Head, white ; neck 
hackle, white, with a broad, dense black stripe down each feather ; throat, breast, under parts, back, thighs, 
and hinder parts white ; tail, black, with the sickles edged with white ; foot-feathering, slightly black ; wing- 
flights, lower web black, but not seen when the wing is closed up. Colour of Dark Brahmas. — Cock : Head, 
white or dusky white ; neck hackle, white, with a broad, distinct black stripe down the centre of each feather 
back and wing-bow, silvery white ; saddle hackle, white, with a black stripe down the centre of each feather ; 
breast, under parts, foot feather, and tail, glossy black. Hen : Head, white or dusky white ; neck hackle, white, 
with black stripe down the centre of each feather, or slightly pencilled up from the shoulders allowable ; breast, 
wing.s, back, cushion, thighs, a good steel-grey, the under parts a lighter shade ; the wings, breast, back, and 
cushion,and even the foot-feathering, should be beautifully pencilled with a darker shade, almost in the form of 
rings following the shape of the feather. In breeding Brahmas, my experience bears out to a great extent that 
which has been laid down by other authorities as the " Royal road to success," but at the same time there 
are other methods or side roads leading up to the same desired end. By the " Royal " road, it means mating, 
up highly-bred birds according to the rules laid down to breed good specimens, whereas, on the other hand, 
where the stock available will not allow it, if a breeder applies himself to a study of his birds and their mating, 
good results will accrue. To do this he must not be afraid to experiment ; as, granting that he has bred the 
variety for some time, and has some moderate specimens among them, although they may not be up to even 
moderate Show calibre, he may, by a judicious selection of the stock, produce better birds each successive 
mating. 
" I prefer to breed from birds two years old on both sides, but have seen some fine stock produced /rom 
a cockerel mated with two and three-year-old hens ; but do not advise anyone to use a cock three years 
old, although I must admit I have some good birds this year from such a union. I will now give my 
experiences in breeding both varieties of the Brahma, but find it difficult to state which is the most difficult 
to breed to Show requirements. There is, however, so much and good material available now, that if a little 
care is given to the selection and mating of the adult stock, success is within reach the first season. The 
stock now procurable is vastly different to what it was some years ago, though, even with the very best of 
stock, there is always the possibility of the union not " nicking," or not producing results compatible with 
the quality of the parents, so that this has to be all gone over again, to discover which crossing or mating 
gives the best results. I will give an example of this. In 1893 my very best birds did not produce chickens 
in any way equal in foot and leg feathering, as a second pen, which themselves were more or less wanting in 
this respect. This showed that I had one pen of birds which were deficient in leg and foot feathering, but 
which produced birds excellent in the very point in which their parents were defective, so at times one has to 
find out by experiment a great deal in the breeding of Light Brahmas. Good birds of both sexes can at 
times be bred from the one pen, and, in fact, some of my very best birds of both sexes, including my two 
Champions of 1892, were bred from the one pen of birds ; but the stock produced came, as a rule, opposite 
to what I expected and mated for, that is, the breeding pen was composed of cock and two hens, and the 
hen that I selected to produce my cockerels, she having heavily-laced hackle, very grey in under feather, and 
ticked on the cushion, produced the best pullets I ever had, as well as three or four good cockerels ; and the 
other hen of the pen selected to produce pulletis, she having nice clear, sound body colour, with a good neck 
hackle, produced the Champion cockerel of that year, and which turned out as good a cock as I ever had. 
The stock cock used in this pen was an imported bird, clear in body colour, and with a good striped hackle. 
