Good and Bad Heads. 
235 
measurement deceiving, a bird drawn the actual size appearing much too large all over. We 
have, in fact, seen even beaks quite as thick as here drawn, though not, perhaps, in quite so old 
a bird, age always shrinking it a little. We add two similar views of a young head, also drawn 
from life, and, as will be seen, from a rather smaller bird, at the age of about seven months. The 
beak here shown could not possibly be surpassed, and the fine chiselling of the skull in front was 
as conspicuous as in the old bird. We could not find, at the moment, a large young head 
sufficiently good for our purpose, but in all except mere size, Figs. 51 and 52 represent the head 
and skull of such a young bird as would develop into the old one above, except that the beak 
of the young one (a Black) is perhaps several degrees better, as regards thickness, than that of the 
old one. We ought to explain that one in each of the above views is neither taken directly from 
the top or from the front, but from a somewhat slanting direction between the two. 
We hope these tw r o views and our explanations will make the points of a fine head plain to 
all our readers, and also show them the class of young bird which will grow into a fine old one. 
But to make our meaning still more clear, we add in Fig. 53 a representation of a bad head. The 
Fig- 53 - 
head here shown is not indeed bad in all points ; such would defeat our object, since any amateur 
could have, in such a case, no difficulty. It has a good eye-wattle, though rather too convex, and a 
very fair width at back of the skull. But it tapers from back to front, where it is not nearly so wide 
as behind. The beak-wattle is narrow across, and the beak itself too long in proportion, as indeed 
is the whole skull ; and these are the points to be particularly avoided. 
We have next briefly to discuss the “colour-points” of the head, which in a Barb have some 
importance. The colour of the beak we have already mentioned ; but we may here add that a 
black beak generally affects the colour of both eye and beak-wattle also, and thus makes birds of 
really the same head properties look far worse than others with pale beaks. Hence, colour as well 
as shape of beak must be studied in breeding, in no case matching two birds having a black one. 
It it also to be noticed that a dark-beaked bird is generally much longer developing its wattle 
than a soft-beaked one ; and when it is fully developed, never seems to show half the properties it 
really possesses. 
The beak-wattle, when young, is of a pinky colour, but as age comes on it seems as if covered 
with fine white powder. The eye-wattle is desired to be as bright-red as possible, but some 
allowance has always to be made. We have often noticed how much deeper in colour, both in eye 
and beak-wattle, are the Barbs imported from abroad than such as are bred in this country, and 
also that some strains produce a much deeper colour than others. As the deepest colour is 
preferred, the wattles are always washed before exhibition, which produces a little deeper and 
