3 2(d The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 
cocks will show some grizzling on the thighs, but will not on that account breed any worse 
chickens. The hen should have body, back, and wings of a soft silvery-grey, perfectly free from 
red or reddish tinge ; breast of a robin-red or salmon colour ; and neck-hackle as silvery as 
possible, with a fine distinct black stripe down the centre of the longer feathers. The most 
common faults in the hen are, either distinctly reddish feathers in the wing, or a slight brownish 
tinge ail over the body. It may be observed that the latter of these faults seems to increase with 
age, while the former, on the contrary, decreases ; and I have had birds very faulty in this respect 
as pullets, which in the second moult entirely lost the reddish feathers, and became perfectly silvery. 
The breast-colour of the hen may vary from robin-red to pale salmon-colour ; the latter is 
generally found with the most silvery general colouring, but I believe that the largest birds are 
Hackle. 
Fig. 77. 
Wing. 
— Feathers of Silver-grey 
Back. 
Dorking Hen. 
almost always of the deeper colour. The colour of the hen whose portrait is given is between the 
two ; she is a very large-framed bird, hatched rather late in 1871, and was never shown till she won 
second prize at Birmingham in 1872. 
“ The mating of Silver-greys for breeding requires great care, and knowledge of the pedigree of 
both cocks and hens. In all sub-varieties purity of blood is only a question of degree, and hence 
there is always danger of ‘breeding back’ to some points distinguishing the common ancestor of 
more than one stock. Never buy chance Silver-greys for breeding* but select from a stock which 
has long been bred with care. A cock to all appearance correct in every point will often produce 
pullets with red wings, or even sandy-coloured all over ; while, on the other hand, good-looking 
hens will breed cockerels with speckled breasts and tails. For the most part, it is true, both parents 
in these cases will produce birds of their own sex like themselves; but the penning of separate 
* See our remarks on this very point at p. 1 19 - 
