128 
THE POULTRY BOOK. 
“ To breed duckwing cocks of these colours, the hen herself must be bred from 
duckwings on both sides, or you will not get the bright colours desired. The 
cock employed must be a pure black-red, for if a cross-bred cock is selected you are 
certain to lose the black breast ; on the other hand, if you want to breed duckwing 
pullets, a good coloured duckwing cock may be put with pure black-red hens, but 
you get the finest coloured pullets from duckwing hens running with a duckwing 
cock, but in no instance did I ever know a good cock obtained in this way ; for 
by breeding from two silver-grey duckwings, you get marble-breasted, throstle- 
breasted, and mealy greys, and by breeding from half-bred duckwing you get dark 
maroon shoulders, and yellow hackles tinged with red, and mealy-winged hens with 
pale breasts. 
Crossing the half-breds of the different strains has at the present day nearly 
destroyed our beautiful silver duckwings. To get them again will take some time. 
Before concluding what I have to say about breeding duckwings, I may add that 
now and then it is desirable to cross with the hrown-red, which assists to give a 
hardness to the feather. 
The best piles are bred by crossing red and white game, but they may also be 
bred from a pile cock and pile hens. Some of the best and purest piles I ever saw 
were bred from a spangled cock and white hen. There is a breed of spangles 
sometimes seen at shows which can be traced back to a breed of tasselled spangles 
that the late Lord Lichfield had in Staffordshire twenty-five years back, and to 
•which many strains of reds throw back, even up to this day. 
“ With regard to breeding pure white or pure black game, I may state a strange 
fact, that if you cross a black with a white game you get birds of both breeds of 
the clearest colour.” 
In the foregoing communication from Mr. Douglas, the three chief varieties of 
game fowl, namely the black- reds, brown-reds, and duckwings, are so fully described 
as hardly to require any further account at our hands. 
One point, however, to which attention has not been drawm is the colour of the 
legs. It is hardly necessary to state that all the birds in a show-pen must match 
in this respect, or they would inevitably be passed over by the judges without even 
the chance of a commendation. 
The colours most desired vary in the different varieties ; thus, in the black-reds, 
the shanks may be either willow, olive, yellow, white, or blue, being most esteemed 
in the order in which they are named. In the brown and ginger reds, olive, 
bronzy black, or dark willow, are according to the “ Standard of Excellence ” the 
correct hues. 
The shanks of the yellow duckwings are given as willow, olive, or yellow ; those 
of the silver duckwings willow, olive, bronze, or blue. 
Piles are Game fowls whose plumage has a proportion of white for one of its 
component colours. They are very frequently heavy birds, and were formerly 
highly esteemed for practical purposes, and in many districts are still greatly 
valued. The cocks of all the various strains of Piles are red and white, or 
