Breeding Trumpeters. 
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flabbiness, or looseness. We must, therefore, refer to our plate for what is desired, and beg to 
repeat that the Black and Black-Mottle are not at all idealised, or better than we have had or 
seen. The White is ; but though we never yet saw one as good, as we have the quality in Blacks, 
we hope to do so before long. 
In Mottles, the marking should be as nearly as possible the same as in the Mottled Tumbler 
on the shoulder, but the bird is also mottled on the head and foot feathering ; and it is so hard 
to procure this with good head-properties, that we would regard even good mottling as of more 
value than mere foot-feather. It is curious that most of the “old” English birds had red or orange 
eyes,* and all except the Whites, black beaks ; whereas the Russians have, with scarcely an excep- 
tion, pearl eyes, and the beaks white in all but the Black birds, which are mostly dark on the upper 
mandible and white on the under. Some of the Blacks are all white on the beak, but such almost 
always have a very few white feathers on the body, tending to show that they are Mottle-bred ; and 
such a bird would be a proper cross for a Mottle with too much marking. The changes of Mottled 
Trumpeters are very curious. Many of the young, when in the nest-pan, appear all white except 
the flights and tail, or rather a sort of grizzly white ; and those who have not bred them before are 
apt to think their chances are very small ; but the first moult puts matters right, all the grizzled 
feathers moulting black. The mottling can however be foretold, with patience ; since on examina- 
tion some feathers will be found all white down to the root. These remain so, while those that are 
grizzled or grey will moult dark. We have heard some fanciers affirm that no one can tell what 
colour a Mottled Trumpeter will be; that they will moult lighter and lighter; and even that Blacks 
will moult into Mottles. We have never found anything to give us such an impression ; but think 
it very probably arose from Mottles which were too gay having been weeded to obtain the proper 
marking. If the feathers were cut off, the trimming would of course remain till moult, when the 
bird would come out so much lighter as to give rise to the impression mentioned. We have had 
many Mottles for many years, and never saw any reason to think they changed after the first 
moult, except that all birds, bred and moulting late, will sometimes moult rather whiter. But even 
such changes are few, and we fear most of the cases have arisen in the manner just alluded to. 
We consider the Mottle the most valuable of all Trumpeters, but are sorry to say we can give 
no directions, from experience, how to match for producing the marking. It may be presumed 
that the mode of procedure should be the same as in breeding the Mottled Tumbler, but we 
believe no one except Mr. Montgomery has really had any actual experience for any time as 
regards Trumpeter breeding — that is, as regards the Russian birds. We do, however, know that 
Mr. Montgomery, like ourselves, always regarded the foot-feathering as a very secondary point, 
and directed his attention chiefly to the more difficult ones of rose, crest, and marking; as he 
considered that foot-feather could be increased at any time in a season or two by the simple 
expedient of breeding early from early-bred parents, which we have repeatedly seen developes 
that property. And while we regard a Mottled Trumpeter as the highest type of the bird, no one 
must suppose we would prefer markings to the real Trumpeter properties ; they are to be regarded 
much as in a Pouter, and as a final finish and set-off to the bird. 
Our chief reason for preferring the pearl eye and white beak of the Russian bird is, that 
they are almost invariably accompanied by far more lustre and tightness of feather, which is a 
considerable beauty. The great drawback of the imported Russians is that they are so liable 
to die soon after reaching this country ; they seem to go off in a kind of wasting or consumption, 
for which as yet the usual remedies have failed. Some have said they will not even breed, but 
* This, however, shows a modern change. Moore describes them as pearl-eyed. — Ed. 
