Technical Terms. 
207 
Self-colour. —A uniform tint over the feather. 
Shaft. — The stem or quill of a feather. 
Shank. — The scaly part of the leg. (No. 20.) 
Sickles. — The top curved feathers of a cock’s tail. Properly 
only applied to the top pair, but sometimes used for one or 
two pairs below which can hardly be called tail-coverts. 
(No. 10.) 
Spangling. — The marking produced by each leather having one 
large spot or splash of some colour different to the ground. 
Spur. — The sharp offensive weapon on the heel of a cock. 
(No. 21.) 
Squirrel-tailed. — The tail projecting in front of a perpendicular 
line, over the back. 
Stag. — Another term for a young cock, chiefly used by Game 
fanciers. 
Strain. — A race of fowls which, having been carefully bred by 
one breeder or his successors for years, has acquired an 
individual character of its own which can be more or less 
relied upon. 
Symmetry. — Perfection of proportion : often confounded with 
carriage, but quite distinct ; as a bird may be nearly perfect 
in proportion, and yet “carry” himself awkwardly. 
Tail-coverts. — The soft, glossy, curved feathers at the sides of j 
the bottom of the tail. Usually the same colour as the tail 
itself. (No. 11.) 
Tail-feathers. — The straight and stiff feathers of the tail only. 
The top pair are sometimes slightly curved, but they are 
always nearly if not quite straight, and are contained inside 
the sickles and tail-coverts. (No, 12.) 
Thighs. — The joint above the shanks; the first joint clothed 
with feathers. The same as the drumstick in dressed fowls. 
(No. 18.) 
7 'op-knot. — Same as Crest. 
Trio. — A cock or cockerel, and two hens or pullets. 
Under-colour. — The colour of the plumage seen when the surface 
has been lifted. It chiefly depends, on that of the down 
seen at the root of every feather 
Vulture-hock . — Stiff projecting feathers at the hock .joint. The 
feathers must be both stiff and projecting to be thus truly 
called and condemned. (See Fig. 59, drawn from a Brahma 
pullet. ) 
Wattles. — The red depending structures at each side of the base 
of the beak. Chiefly developed in the male sex. (No. 3.) 
Web . — This term is indefinite, expressing a flat and thin structure. 
The web of a feather is the flat or plume portion ; the web 
of the foot, the flat skin between the toes ; of the wing, the 
triangular skin seen when the member is extended. 
Wing-bar . — Any line of dark colour across the middle of the 
wing, caused by the colour or marking of the feathers known 
as the lower wing-coverts. (No. 14.) 
Wing-bozo . — The upper or shoulder part of the wing. (No 13.) 
Wing-butts . — The corners or ends of the wing. The upper ends 
are more properly called the shoulder-butts, and are thus 
termed by Game fanciers. The lower, similarly, are often 
called the lower butts. 
Wing-coverts . — The broad feathers covering the roots of the 
secondary quills. (No. 14.) 
