L a ced Da nta ms. 
475 
Bantam. The cross was between some common Bantams and the Polish fowl. These were bred 
in-and-in until the required marking and size were secured. Sir John then accidentally found a 
short-tailed Bantam cock in the country when he was travelling. This short-tailed bird he in-bred 
with his newly-manufactured Bantams, thereby giving their progeny the present form of the 
short tail. 
“ In the Poultry Chronicle it is stated that Sir John obtained a buff-coloured Bantam hen at 
Norwich ; she was very small indeed, with clear slate-coloured legs. On the same journey he 
purchased a cock rather inclined to red in colour, destitute of sickle-feathers, with a hen-like 
hackle ; and also, at Watford, a small hen resembling a Golden Hamburgh. He afterwards had a 
Hackle Hackle 
near Head. near Shoulder. 
Back. Saddle. Wing-covert. 
Fig. 97. 
white cockerel from the Zoological Gardens, by which he made his Silvers. This description of 
the origin refers back before the laced marking was achieved. They were then known as Pheasant 
Bantams 
“ Sir John also established a club for the fostering and improvement of his pets. It is thus 
mentioned in the Poultry Chronicle of 1855. ‘The Sebright Bantam Club was formed some forty 
years ago by the late Sir John S. Sebright and several other fanciers, who endeavoured, if possible, 
to obtain the beautiful plumage of the Polish fowl on as small specimens as could be. They (the 
late Sir John, the late Mr. Stevens, the late Mr. Hollingsworth, and Mr. Garle, who still survives) 
began their labours by selecting the best kinds for their purpose of the Polish, and, by judiciously 
crossing them with Bantams, gradually obtained their end. They had to work out the top-knots, 
get rid of the hackles and long tail-feathers, and reduce the size ; retaining as much as possible 
the truly impertinent character of the Bantam. This has been most successfully accomplished, but 
not without the occasional recrossing with the Black Bantam, for the constant breeding in-and-in 
has often brought the birds to a stand-still. The club thus formed met annually, on the first 
