Bantams other than Game. 
351 
of this breed look at their very best when between the ages of five and seven months. Other varieties take 
longer to mature, and thicken out ; but, as a point worth remembering, if Bantams are wanted long in the 
leg, early hatching is the secret ; if short legs are desired, postpone hatching till the middle, or latter part of 
the season. This is given as a guide where exhibiting the birds is the reason for breeding them ; but if 
required as ornaments solely, or as pets belonging to the household, the best time is early Spring, the season 
being entirely in their favour. 
The varieties of Bantams may be classed under three heads : The old breeds I eing Sebright, 
Pheasants or Spangled, Black and White Rose-combs, Nankins, Booted, etc. ; the iutcnncdiatc breeds being 
Game, Cuckoos, Frizzled, Rumpless, Japanese, Buff Pekins ; the hUcr breeds, or productions, being 
Burmese, Black Pekin, Cuckoo, Pekin or Cochins, also White and Partridge ditto, Indian Game, Malays, 
Aseels, Brahmas, Polish, Sultan, etc. 
Rose-combed Bantams. — Of the old breeds of variety Bantams the Black and White Rose-conibs have 
been general favourites for many years, though latterly they have been much improved in the characteristic 
Fancy Points. The ideal Black Rose-comb Bantam is now a Black Hamburg in miniature. In plumage, 
both cock and hen should be as green a shade as possible ; the faces and combs, the brightest coral-red ; 
lobes, white as snow, and soft as kid, and as round as possible ; the legs and feet, black. To breed the 
Black Rose-comb cockerels, it is found that the best results will be obtained by keeping one strain to breed 
them solely, and another to produce the Show pullets, for it is almost impossible to breed both sexes anything 
like perfect from one pen of birds. A pen of birds which produce the rich beetle-green so much desired in 
the pullets will invariably throw cockerels with admixture of red on hackles and wings ; and, again, it is 
almost impossible to breed Show cockerels from hens other than those which are dull black in colour, and 
useless for Show purposes. It is best, therefore, if both sexes are wanted for Exhibition, to mate up two 
separate breeding pens — one to produce cockerels, the other pullets. 
In selecting the breeding stock, great weight must be placed upon the birds on both sides being nearly 
as perfect in comb as possible. Hollow centres, or wanting work or spikes, or faulty peaks, must be care- 
fully avoided, as half the trouble in breeding Black Rose-combs — or White either, for that matter — lies in 
the head points, a faulty comb being extremely difficult to get rid of when once it is in a strain. The 
ear-lobes are equally as important, and must be good on both cock and hens if this point is wished to be 
perpetuated. The good chickens can be picked out as soon as hatched, those likely to make good ones 
hatching black on the upper parts, the wings tipped with white, the face more or less white, and white on 
the throats and bellies ; and should any of the chickens turn out entirely black when hatched, they invariably 
grow up with red or straw feathers throughout the plumage. The Rose-comb Bantam hen is a good layer 
of fair-sized eggs, and the breed is one of the most jaunty and handsome varieties of the Lilliput family. 
White Rose comb Bantams should be pure white in plumage, with white beaks, legs, and ear-lobes ; the 
face and wattles and eyes coral-red, and the cock's sickles and side sickles a good length In breeding the 
Whites they may be produced from the one pen, providing that purity of feather, shape, and head points are 
correct. These birds must be kept out of the rays of the sun, as their plumage soon becomes tanned, thus 
spoiling them for Exhibition. 
The Pekin or Cochin Bantam is a production of the Chinese people, who have cultivated the breed for 
many centuries. This breed is now exhibited in five different colours, viz., Buff, Black, Cuckoo, Partridge, 
and White. The whole of the Pekin or Cochin Bantams should be the same shape as the larger Cochins, 
and should run about one-fifth the average weight of the Cochin. The head should be as small and fine as 
possible, though stout in beak, with a neat single comb, well serrated, and perfectly erect, though this latter 
feature is, as a rule, proportionately larger than in the large Cochin. T he skin of face, ear-lobes, and wattles 
must be smooth and fine in texture, and with the comb and face a brilliant red ; the eyes should also be as 
nearly red as possible, though rarely seen. The neck should be full and short, but nicely arched ; the 
carriage of body slightly forward, and the top of the tail as high as the head ; the back short and broad, 
