Golden-Pencilled Hamburghs. 
33 5 
about them. To purchase merely the whitest birds will not answer, as they may breed very 
bad tails. All depends upon the strain. Such hens or pullets are mated with exhibition 
cockerels ; and these now have to be as free as possible from any marking whatever all over 
the body, the only black desired being in the tail. 
“ For pullet-breeding, on the contrary, the breeding a strain distinct for marking has 
resulted in the production of hen-feathered cocks marked very nearly like the hens, witii short, 
henny tails. This is a perfectly natural result, and has followed the constant selection of 
cocks with the most pencilling on the wing. One advantage of these birds is that the 
quality of thc-ir pencilling can at once be seen ; and hence the mating is a comparatively 
simple affair.” 
We cannot say that the pencilling of Silver-pencilled Hamburghs has been in our opinion 
at all improved by the change in the mode of breeding, but rather the contrary. The numbers 
lately exhibited also show a most significant decline, and we think it a matter to be deeply 
deplored that the judges so unadvisedly discouraged birds suitable for pullet-breeding. It is 
not the first occasion, however, on which the exaggerated demands of judges have worked 
mischief. We may, perhaps, remark that the production of hen-feathered cocks is a strong 
corroboration of our views respecting the original unity of the Hamburgh race, and shows 
conclusively how the hen-feathered Spangled cock was produced : it also explains how the 
hen-tail arose in the Sebright Bantam. 
First-rate Silver-pencilled cocks will sometimes, as they get old, show a chestnut patch upon the 
wing. We remember one of the very best show birds we ever saw moulting out thus after winning 
thirty-seven prizes, and the fault used to be common in aged birds ; but by rigorously excluding 
such from breeding, it is now seldom seen. Birds which do show the chestnut patch should never 
be bred from. 
GOLDEN-PENCILLED HAMBURGHS. — “This variety,” continues Mr. Beldon, “is in 
every respect save ground-colour similar to the Silver-pencilled breed. The ground-colour in the 
hens should be about the colour of gold, as rich and bright as possible ; the pencilling being 
exactly like the preceding variety, as distinct and yet as fine as can be got ; that is, as many bars 
as possible across each feather, provided they are distinct and of a good rich black colour. The 
neck-hackle, like the Silver birds', should be clear. The cock is of a deeper tint, his colour being 
somewhat between that of his own hens and of a Red Game cock ; it must be neither too red nor 
too pale, but what might be called very rich in effect. His proper tail-feathers are black, the 
sickles and hangers rich black edged with brown or bronze, the edging being rather wider than in 
the Silver-pencilled bird. To have sickles all black is a great fault, and so is a tail bronzed all over, 
or with scarcely any black in it, but bronzed almost all over the sickles. This last kind of tail is 
very showy, and used to be rather a favourite with some judges who did not understand 
I lamburghs ; but experience proves that birds possessing it produce very indifferently pencilled 
pullets, and the judges on that account now throw them out. 
“ Besides the quality of the black pencilling, which resembles the Silver-pencilled, one of the 
great points in this variety is the evenness and richness of the ground-colour. Some birds, 
otherwise good, are very uneven in this point, the ends of the feathers being a lighter gold than the 
other parts. Such birds, as the season advances, are apt to get still more faded and washed-out in 
appearance, and, indeed, most birds fade in colour from the effects of the sun ; but some hens of a 
good rich colour retain this much better than others, which, is of course, a great point in their 
favour. In the cccks the same fault is commonly seen, appearing in the shape of a lighter shade 
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