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CHAPTER XVII. 
TECHNICAL TERMS. 
BEFORE proceeding to the detailed description of the various breeds, and practical notes on theii 
breeding and management, it will be well to provide for the beginner a competent knowledge of the 
various technical terms as employed by fanciers. With the aid of the illustration on the following 
page, this will readily be acquired from the accompanying glossary. We have included a few 
words not perhaps absolutely necessary ; but for obvious reasons it is convenient to have collected 
together a list of the chief terms in constant use amongst poultry amateurs. 
Beard. — A bunch of feathers under the throat of some breeds, 
as Houdans or Polish. 
Breed. — Any variety of fowl presenting distinct characteristics. 
Brood. — The family of chickens under care of one hen. 
Broody. — Desiring to sit or incubate. 
Carriage. — The bearing, attitude, or “style ” of a bird. 
Carunculated. — Covered with fleshy protuberances, as on the 
neck of a turkey-cock. 
Chick. — A newly-hatched fowl. Used only till a few weeks old, 
Chicken. — This word is often applied to any age indefinitely 
until twelve months old. 
Clutch. — This term is applied both to the batch of eggs sat upon 
by a fowl, and also to the brood of chickens hatched there- 
from. 
Cockerel. — A young cock. 
Comb. — The red protuberance on the top of a fowl’s head. 
(No. i, see Plate). 
Condition. — The state of the fowl as regards health and beauty 
of plumage — the latter especially. 
Crest. — A crown or tuft of feathers on the head. The same as 
Top-knot. 
Crop. — The bag or receptacle in which food is stored before 
digestion. Can be easily felt in any fowl after feeding. 
Cushion. — The mass of feathers over the tail-end of a hen’s 
back, covering the tail ; chiefly developed in Cochins. 
Deaf -ears. — The folds of skin hanging from the true ears : same 
as Ear-lobes. They vary in colour, being blue, white, 
cream-coloured, or red. (No. 4.) 
Dubbing. — Cutting off the comb, wattles, &c., so as to leave the 
head smooth and clean. 
Ear-lobes. — Same as Deaf-ears. 
Face. — The bare skin round the eye. (No. 2.) 
Flights. — The primary feathers of the wing, used in flying, but 
tucked under the wing out of sight when at rest. (No. 16.) 
Fluff. — Soft downy feathers about the thighs, chiefly developed 
in Asiatics. 
Furnished. — Assumed the full characters. When a cockerel 
has obtained his full tail, comb, hackles, &c. , as if adult, he 
is said to be “furnished.” 
S 
Gills. — This term is often applied to the wattles, and sometimes 
more indefinitely to the whole region of the throat. 
Hackles. — The peculiar narrow feathers on the neck of fowls, 
also found in the saddle of the cock. In the latter case 
they are called “saddle” hackles or feathers ; hackles alone 
always referring to the neck-feathers. (No. 5.) 
Hen- feathered, or Henny. — Resembling a hen in the absence of 
sickles or hackle-feathers, and in plumage generally. 
Hock. — The knee or elbow-joint of the leg. (No. 19.) 
Keel. — A word sometimes used to denote the breast-bone. 
Leg. — In a live fowl this is the scaly part, or shank. In a bird 
dressed for table, on the contrary, the term refers, as is 
well known, to the joints above. 
Leg-feathers. — The feathers projecting from the outer side of the 
shanks in some breeds, as Cochins. 
Mossy. — Confused or indistinct in marking. 
Pea-comb. — A triple comb, resembling three small combs in one, 
the middle being the highest. 
Pencilling. — Small markings or stripes over a feather.. These 
may run either straight across, as in Ilamburghs, or in a 
crescentic form, as in Partridge Cochins. 
Poult. — A young turkey. 
Primaries. — The flight-feathers of the wings, hidden when the 
wing is closed, being tucked under the visible wing composed 
of the “secondary” feathers. Usually the primaries contain 
the deepest colour all over the body, except the tail, and 
great importance is attached to their colour by breeders. 
Pullet. — A young hen. The term is not properly applicable 
after December 3! of the year in which a bird is hatched, 
though often used during the early months of the next 
year. 
Rooster. — An American term for a cock. 
Saddle. — The posterior part ot the back, reaching to the tail, in 
a cock, answering to the cushion in a hen ; often, however, 
applied to both sexes, cushion being more restricted to a 
great development, as in Cochins, while “ saddle ” may be 
applied to any breed. (No. 8.) 
Secondaries. — The quill-feathers of the wing which show when 
the bird is at rest (No. 15.) 
