270 
The Australasian Book of Poultry. 
a straight line draicii across tfie shoulders at the base of the neck. This is a strongly marked characteristic 
in a good Malay (and as the Australian Game Fowl should not be as spare-feathered, but should have ctiough 
feather) it is a point strictly to be avoided in breeding Australian Game, and one, when once in a strain, 
very difiicult to "breed out." 
To meet with success in the Show pen in breeding Black-Reds, it is necessary to mate up separate 
breeding pens for the production of the sexes : and for cockerel breeding, a cock should be chosen, clear 
pearl, if possible, in eyes, sound, glossy-black in breast, under-parts, and tail ; neck hackles, deep rich red, 
quite free from dark or light streaks or spots ; saddle hackles, a trifle lighter in colour, but still clear in 
the feathers ; back, a rich, deep, lustrous maroon ; the wing-bars, bright steel-blue ; and the secondaries, a 
clear, deep bay. The face, jaws, and under-parts of throat as free from feathers as possible, taking particular 
notice that the bird handles hard and close, and is very lustrous in plumage throughout, as these particular 
points are certain to be transmitted to the cockerels bred from him — points that are necessary in 
the high-class Show specimen. The hens to match may be either Wheaten or Partridge. The former 
may be'absolutely depended upon to produce bright-coloured cockerels ; but the latter will also produce 
cockerels all that can be desired, if selected with rather light yellow hackles, slightly streaked, or, 
better still, slightly pencilled in the feathers, these hens running a medium brown in ground colour, well 
pencilled with minute markings of black. On no account should these pencillings approach bars on the 
secondaries or tail coverts, as birds with these faults will produce cockerels rusty in under-parts of breast, 
thighs, and fluff. If these hens have a few ruddy-coloured feathers on the sides of the wing, this is a good 
feature, and invariably hens so marked throw the best coloured cockerels. The paler in breast the hens 
are the better ; and they should be of large frame, strong boned, wide in the back, with tails carried low, and 
their legs set on wide apart, a small Australian Game hen being of little use to breed cockerels for the Show 
pen. 
To breed the pullets up to Show form, a darker coloured cock may be used, and if the lower hackle 
feathers are streaked with a darker shade this is a good point ; he may also have a few brown feathers in 
breast and fluff, and his top colour may also be of a duller shade than the bird used for cockerel breeding. 
The hens to match should be rich yellow in hackle, each feather well and solidly striped with black, the 
ground colour of the back and wings having a brownish-drab appearance, the breast a good deep salmon 
colour— in fact, the Show hen at all points. One point in breeding the pullets is the shape and make of the 
cock's comb. This should be (if un-dubbed) as neat and as small as possible, the three divisions forming 
the triple comb clearly defined, each division neatly and evenly serrated (the centre division being the 
highest), the w-hole to set firmly and closely on the head, a bird faulty in comb invariably throwing pullets 
loose and flabby in this important feature. Too much stress cannot be placed upon this point, as an 
Australian Ciame pullet should have a most attractive and trim appearance about the head ; also for breeding 
pullets, ^vhitc in the ear-lobes of the cock should be strictly avoided, as this objectionable feature will be 
even more strongly pronounced in the pullets bred from a cock faulty in this respect. 
To breed the Blacks to Show points of colour, the best system is to have separate breeding pens. 
To produce cockerels, both parents should be as dark in beak, eyes, legs, and feet as possible, and the whole 
plumage throughout on the surface should be of the glossiest greenish-black colour, and the under-fluff of the 
feather right down to the skin should be as black as possible. To produce pullets, a cock may be selected with 
a few feather.s of the neck and saddle hackles of a coppery hue, the plumage, however, throwing off green 
reflections. The hens to match should be sound, hard, and perfect in colour. Any tendency to brown, 
gold, or coppery feathers in hackle and breast, or upper part of throat, should condemn them for the 
breeding pen. 
In breeding the Duckwings to colour points, separate breeding pens are necessary. To produce 
the cockerels sound in breast, body, fluft", and tail, a bright-coloured, clear-hackled Black-Breasted Red 
Cock should be used. The hens to match should run as white in head and neck as possible, the lower 
feathers of the neck hackle being more pencilled than streaked, the ground colour of the plumage a bluish- 
