Schedule for Judging Hamburghs . 
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SCHEDULE FOR JUDGING HAMBURGHS. 
General Characteristics of Cock. — Head and Neck — General appearance of head neat, lively, and smart, rather short 
than otherwise ; beak rather short and small ; comb double or rose, wide and square in front, and tapering into a long spike pointing 
backwards and slightly upwards behind, to be flat on top, and full of “work” or points, and set firmly and upright on the head ; 
deaf-ear flat, and as nearly circular as possible ; wattles thin, neat, and rounded ; neck rather long, much arched or curved, carried 
well back, and full of long sweeping hackles, flowing well over shoulders. Body — General appearance neat and symmetrical, not 
tapering to the tail as in the Game fowl ; the back a fair moderate length, but appearing rather short from the hackle flowing over 
it ; saddle broad, and amply furnished ; wings large, but neatly carried ; breast lull, round, and carried well forward. Legs and 
Feet — Thighs slender, short, and neat ; shanks rather short, thin, and clean ; toes very slender, and nicely spread. Tad — Very 
ample, with long and broad sickle-feathers, and plenty of secondary sickles or furnishing-feathers ; the sickles much curved and 
carried high, but not squirrel-fashion or over the back. Size — Small, averaging in Spangles about five pounds, but larger develop- 
ment no disadvantage if gained without sacrifice of points. General Shape — Light and graceful. Carriage — Lively, jaunty, and 
graceful, but not strutting, as in the Spanish cock. 
[Note. — The shape of the Pencilled varieties is somewhat more light and slender, with less width of body, and the weight 
less, than the Spangled and Black.] 
General Characteristics of Hen. — The general characteristics of the cock apply to the hen, with only the usual sexual 
differences. The same note as to the difference of shape in the Pencilled varieties also applies in her case. 
Colour of Silver-Spangled Hamburghs. — In both Sexes — Beak a dark horn-colour. Comb, face, and wattles, brilliant 
red. Deaf-ears pure white. Eyes dark hazel. Legs dark leaden blue. Colour of Cock — Hackle silvery white, free from yellow, 
spotted at the bottom as much as possible. Back, shoulder-coverts, and wing-bow white, spotted with black, the spots being long 
and narrow, owing to the pointed shape of the tips of the feathers. Wing-coverts, each feather white, with a heavy round black 
spangle at the tip, forming two even bars across the wing. Secondaries white, spangled at the tips, the spangles forming what is 
called the “stepping” of the wing. Primaries also to be spangled on the ends. Saddle-feathers white, spotted on the ends with 
black. Breast, under parts, and thighs, white spangled with black, every feather having a rich, round, black spangle at the tip, the 
larger the better, and so arranged as just barely to show the white between. Tail white on the outside, greyish on the inside, each 
feather spangled at the tip ; the sickles and secondary sickles clear white, with a large distinct spangle at the end of each. Colour 
of Hen — Hackle silvery white, each feather spotted with black on the end, the spots towards the bottom becoming larger and 
rounder. Back, shoulders, saddle, tail-coverts, breast, under parts, and thighs white, each/eather tipped with a large, round, black 
moon or spangle, not arranged so close as to overlap and appear solid black, but so that the white can just be seen between. Tail- 
feathers white, with a spangle at the end, which is however soldom perfectly round. Wing-coverts tipped with very large spangles, 
so as to form two regular bars across the wing ; and secondary quills to be white, tipped with a heavy crescentic spangle, so arranged 
as to appear like “steps ” on the end of the wing when it is closed. Primaries also white, tipped with black. The marking to be as 
uniform all over body as possible ; and the hens in a pen must match, not only in this, but in combs and other characteristics. 
Colour of Golden-spangled Hamburghs. — In both Sexes — Beak horn-colour. Comb, face, and wattles brilliant red. Deaf- 
ears pure white. Eyes red. Legs dark leaden-blue. Colour of Cock — Ground-colour rich reddish-golden bay, marked as follows : — 
Hackle and saddle striped with black, the stripes to be sharp and clear. Back, shoulder-coverts, and wing-bow spotted with black 
at the tips of the feathers. Wing-coverts heavily spangled with large round spangles, forming two bars across the wing. 
Secondaries and primaries also spangled on the ends. Breast, under parts, and thighs, heavily spangled with rich round spangles. 
Tail rich green-black. Colour of Hen — A rich reddish-golden bay ground-colour, but in other respects similar to the Silver- 
spangled, except that the hackle is striped instead of spotted with black, and the tail is black. Except in these respects, in fact, 
the similarity extends to both sexes. 
Coi.our of Silver-pencilled Hamburghs. — In both Sexes — Beak horn-colour. Comb, face, and wattles bright scarlet- 
red. Deaf-ears pure white. Eyes bright red. Legs dark leaden blue. Colour of Cock — Hackle pure silvery white. Back, saddle, 
shoukler-coverts, and wing-bow pure silvery white. Wing-coverts used to be sought heavily-pencilled across upper web, so as to 
form a slight bar, but a white wing is now preferred by most judges, making the whole body pure white. Secondaries white on 
lower web, except a strip of black next the quills, and black on inner web except a little grey or white on extreme edge ; primaries 
white on outer web and black on inner web. Breast, under parts, and thighs white, except a few black spots behind the thighs. 
Tail black in the true feathers ; sickles and secondaries rich glossy green-black, with a narrow lacing or edging of pure white all 
round. Colour of Hen — Hackle silvery white. Remainder of plumage, except wing-quills, a pure silvery white ground-colour, each 
feather pencilled across with black ; the pencilling to be as fine or frequent as possible, to go as straight and squarely across as 
possible, and to be nearly as possible equal in width to the white spaces left between. The secondary quills should also be pencilled, 
1 ut this has rarely or never been yet attained ; and white on the outer -webs, with a little undefined marking, is the rule. The tail- 
feathers should be, and often are, perfectly pencilled. The pencilling to “fall in line,” as if continuous lines had been drawn round 
the bird, as far as possible. 
