Bantams other than Game. 
355 
There are numerous other varieties of Bantams, which, however, are little cultivated, except in the 
countries where they originated, such as the Burmese, etc. 
Sebright Bantams can lay claim to being quite as popular as any of the Liliputian tribes of Fancy 
Poultry. The Sebrights are bred in three colours— Silver, Gold, and Creamy. The former are the most 
fashionable, and to the late Sir John Sebright, Bart., is credited their production. This gentleman devoted 
many years of his life with unflagging energy and spirit in blending and manipulating various crosses to 
produce this beautiful and unique variety. It is now, at time of writing, merging into the hundredth year 
since first the experiments were started from which the Sebright Bantam evolved. 
The Silver Sebrights in both sexes should be pure silvery-white in ground colour, with each feather 
distinctly and evenly laced with bright green-black. This lacing should be a uniform width throughout the 
whole of the feathers. The legs and feet should be slaty-blue ; the combs should be rose ; the face, wattles, 
and ear-lobes, purplish. In appearance they are short-backed, short-legged, very compact; the chest, carried 
prominently; the wings, well drooping; and the head thrown back, almost touching the tail, the latter carried 
high and open, so as to show the clear ground colour, and distinct lacing of each feather ; the whole of the 
body, tail, and hackle feathers, short, and the cock feathered exactly like the hen, that is "hen-feathered." 
In breeding the Sebright Bantams, perfect specimens on either side will not do for mating together, as the 
markings would become lost in a few generations. It is imperative that on one side the stock bird should 
be too heavy and dark in lacing for Exhibition purposes. By this means the lacing as required is retained. 
The Golden Sebrights are, in both sexes, similar in head points, beak, feet, and legs to the Silver 
variety, their ground colour being what is termed a light, bright golden-bay, the feathers being laced precisely 
like the Silvers. They are, however, much more difficult to breed to Standard markings than the Silvers, 
the cocks often failing in tail and breast markings up near the throat, and on the wing ends. These should 
also be mated on the same lines as the Silvers, using a rather heavily-laced and deeper ground-coloured bird 
on one side. One great drawback to the breeding of these beautiful pets is the sterility of many of the very 
best cocks, and when this is noticed, a brother to him may with safety be used which has a tendency to 
grow sickle feathers in the tail, a bird of this description being of the greatest value for the breeding pen, 
though useless for Show purposes. 
Creamy Sebrights are chiefly used to tone down the colour of the darker-coloured Goldens, in 
themselves not being so highly prized for Exhibition, though at one time this colour was when of the lighter 
shades, called Silvers ; but a Silver Sebright to win now in good competition must be silvery-white in ground 
colour of the plumage. 
Cuckoo Bantams are one of the prettiest breeds of the whole Bantam family. They are bred in two 
varieties — viz., single and rose-combed. In the single-combed variety in both sexes the comb should be 
erect, upright, and well serrated, and red in colour ; the eyes, face, wattles, and ear-lobes, red ; the legs, 
white, slightly mottled on the scales. The ground colour of plumage, a pale French grey, evenly marked in 
both sexes with bars of a dark slate colour. The clearer and more distinct the ground colour and 
markings the better, white or black feathers in plumage being very objectionable, and a disqualification. To 
breed Cuckoo Bantams, a cock should be used which is rather dark in colour, but as fine in the bar 
markings as possible, mated with hens or pullets as near the Standard requirements as possible. The 
Rose-Combed variety are not so highly esteemed, the Single-Combed having a smarter appearance, 
resembling the large Scots Grey in miniature. 
Polish Bantams have also been produced in Black, White, Buff, Gold, Silver, Creamy, Cuckoo, Blue, 
AVhite-Crested Black, and White-Crested Blue, but are not cultivated to any great extent. They should 
resemble in miniature the Polish Fowls. 
Japanese Bantams. — The chief of these are the Dark-Tailed White-Bodied and the Pure Blacks. The 
former are the most common, of which we have seen numbers of good specimens imported to this country. 
