Colours or Buff Cocmys. 
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breast-feathers ; the foot and leg-feathering same colour as breast, and free from any white or 
discoloured feathers. 
“ The next most important colour of cock is the Buff. The neck, saddle, hackle, and wing 
and tail-coverts should be a bright dark orange; the breast and fluff rich yellow buff; the tail 
buff or dark bronze, free from any discoloured feathers ; the foot and leg-feathering same colour 
as breast, and free from any discoloured feathers. 
“The Silver-Buff cock — a colour much discarded by all judges, therefore very seldom seen, 
but yet when true in colour one of the handsomest birds bred — is as follows: — The neck, saddle, 
hackle, and wing and tail-coverts should be a light lemon ; the breast and fluff a French white; the 
tail-feathers light, tipped with orange or light bronze ; foot and leg-feathering same colour as 
breast ; flight-feathers of wing a pale buff or light cane-colour. 
“ These are the three only important colours in cocks. I will now give the colours of hens of 
each of these varieties. 
“ The Lemon-Buff hen should be a light cane-colour, uniform shade throughout ; feet and leg- 
feathers and tail should be same colour ; the hackle a light lemon. This is perhaps the most 
fashionable colour. 
“The Yellow-Buff hen should be a good rich buff throughout, with hackle rich orange. 
“ The Silver-Buff hen is a very beautiful bird when perfect in colour. The neck and hackle 
should be a light golden lemon ; the body French white ; the tail and wing-flights a light buff or 
very pale cane-colour ; leg and foot feathers same colour as body. 
“ I have thus briefly described the different colours in both cocks and hens, and will now give 
the different points required in a high-class bird of each sex. 
“In the cock bird size is a most important point to breed for. A full-grown cock bird, say 
twelve months old, should not be less than from ten to twelve pounds. A Cochin increases in 
weight till three or four years old, and old cocks from two to three years old will increase to the 
weight of fourteen or fifteen pounds each ; but I maintain that a cock bird weighing twelve or 
thirteen pounds when two years old is quite heavy enough, and shows in a pen to much greater 
advantage than a bird heavier. A very high-class bird, with great depth of feather (a great 
feature in a Cochin), is very deceptive in weight, and I have frequently seen cocks, thick heavy- 
looking birds, full of feather, weigh much lighter than a close-feathered bird that in a pen does 
not look so heavy by pounds. A close-feathered bird I very much object to. 
“ The head should be long, not too thick or coarse ; the beak rich yellow ; the comb perfectly 
upright, not too large, and evenly serrated ; the ear-lobes prominent and red ; the wattles deep ; 
the neck well arched, not too short, and not carried too much back ; the shoulders broad and 
square, and well carried up ; the breast full, and broad as possible ; the legs set well apart, the 
more bone and thickness the better, not too long, nor either too short ; feet large ; toes thick, long, 
and straight ; legs and feet well feathered, and free from any long hock-feathers ; the wing small, 
carried well up, and close, the ends of the flight-feathers closely clipping the sides, so as to be 
almost invisible. Twisted flight-feathers in the wing, or any of the long flight-feathers not carried 
well under, are very objectionable. The tail should be as small as possible, free from any loim 
sickle-feathers, and resembling much the style of a plume of feathers. It is rare now in an 
exhibition pen to see a genuine tail ; they are so artistically curled and twisted into shape, and so 
many feathers pulled out, that an exhibition pen very rarely contains a bird in its natural form. 
“ In the Cochin hen, also, size is a most important point ; for, however good in quality and 
colour, if under size they are of little use. Hens live to a greater age than cocks, and, as Cochins 
increase in weight every year, their weight is much heavier in proportion to the cocks. Hens at 
