140 
The Australasian Book of Poultry. 
lemon-coloured bird is, again, the greatest fa\ourite, and the cock of this colour should have head, neck 
hackle, saddle hackle, back, wings, and tail coverts a beautiful pale lemon colour ; the breast and fluff, a pale 
buff colour. The primaries of the wings should also be a pale buff or lemon colour, quite free from any- 
darker or lighter coloured streaks or markings. The feathers of the tail .should be of a light bronzy hue, or 
buff, a shade darker than the feathers of the breast. The shank and toe feathering should also be of a pale 
buff, or lemon colour, quite free from any suspicion of white or streakiness. 
The second most important colour of the cock is tlie Yellow Buff. In this cock, the neck hackle, saddle 
hackle, back, and wings, and also the tail coverts should be a bright, deep orange ; the breast and underparts, * 
leg and foot featherings a rich yellow buff, free from any wliite or discoloured feathers ; the tail any shade of 
colour, ranging from buff to dark bronze. The Cinnamon cock is of a deeper tint on back, shoulders, and 
wing-bow, the tail being of a deep bronze colour. The Lemon-Buff hen should he one nnifonn even shade of 
light cane rrilour Ihi-oiiffhoiit — body, wings, and tail. The Yellow-Buff hen should he a good ^ solid, rich hicft 
colour throughout, with the exception of the hackle, which should be rich orange. In any of the colours 
dark streaks in -hackle or body are serious defects, and birds with these faults should not be bred from. Size 
is a most important point in Cochins. By size we do not mean actual weight, though this is of some 
importance also. AVe mean depth and abundance of feather, as, unlike the Brahma, a Cochin cannot be too 
fluffy and loose. The general characteristics of the cock and hen apply to all the varieties, though there are 
few specimens of the other colours which approach the feather development of the Buffs. One point in 
favour of Cochins is, that if they can be kept healthy and lively, age is no bar to their being kept for 
Exhibition, as the older they are the fluffier they become, and of corresponding value for Show purposes, 
though, perhaps, for some years the hens would not have laid a single egg. A few rules in breeding Cochins, 
and which apply to all the varieties of the tribe, is, first select a medium-sized cock, good in the colour 
required, noting especially (whether he is a Buff, Partridge, Black, or Cuckoo) tluit he docs not exhibit white 
or tnealiness in the flight feathers of the luings, as this fault is strongly hereditary, and very difficult to 
"breed out.'' Note that his wings are small, well carried up, and tucked in closely to the 
body ; that he has a neat, straight, and evenly-serrated comb, and that there are no stains of white present 
in the ear-lobes. Choose hens to mate with him that are matured, i.e., over twelve months old, large and 
square in frame, and heavily feathered, the legs set on wide apart, and the shanks strong and stout, and 
also that they have small, neat, well-fitting combs. The larger the cushion development in the hens the 
better. In breeding the Buffs for colour points, select a cock, as described above, of a rich buff colour, 
sound and even throughout, mating him with hens not lighter in colour than the cock's breast. From this 
Reproduced jn 
