THE POULTKY BOOK. 
131 
yellow and wliitOj in one or other of the shades of those colours ; but the markings 
of each individual vary so greatly, that it is somev/hat difficult to describe their 
arrangement. The object of the breeders of show birds is to get the colours in the 
cocks as distinct and brilliant as possible. It is a singular circumstance that in 
breeding Piles from a black-red and a white, the red colour should remain almost un- 
changed, whilst the black becomes white; so much is this the case that, in the opinion 
of many Pile breeders, the most desired arrangement of colours for a Pile is that he 
should be red where a black-breasted red is red, and white where he is black. 
The Standard of Excellence,” however, departs somewhat from this rule, permitting 
the upper part of the breast of a Pile cock to be marbled with red. The same high 
authority describes the hens as being chestnut red and white, the tail being ex- 
clusively of the latter colour. The legs of Pile game should be yellow, willow, or 
white. 
White game require no lengthened description of the characteristics of the 
plumage : it should be pure and unsullied white in both sexes, the cock being 
as free from yellow tinge as possible. The colour of the legs varies ; most breeders 
prefer the yellow — some, however, adhering to the white. In the midland 
counties, where they have long been favourites, the white game are frequently 
termed Smocks.” 
Black game are birds of unquestionable purity, being formerly a celebrated 
fighting breed. Their plumage, in good specimens, is of an extraordinary degree 
of metallic brilliancy, resplendent with lustrous shades of green and purple. The 
legs should be dark olive or black. 
In brassy-winged game, the cocks have the wing-coverts of a bright golden 
yellow, the rest of the plumage being entirely of the beautiful raven black, charac- 
teristic of the pure black birds. The hens are of a uniform good black ; the wing- 
coverts being destitute of the peculiar colour of those of the cock. 
Blues and greys have usually a dull slate breast, with straw-coloured hackle and 
saddle ; the hens being wholly of the former colour. 
The Birchen yellow cock has a deep straw-coloured hackle and saddle, passing 
into a coppery colour on the back. The breast is cream colour, the feathers 
having a reddish-brown shaft, the tail black. The hens are extremely pretty, being 
of a general greyish colour, but the hackle feathers being margined with black, and 
those of the breast with creamy white. 
The cuckoo game, now almost, if not quite extinct, repeated the colours of the 
cuckoo dorking, each feather being banded with dark grey on a lighter ground. 
The Hennies, or Hen-Cocks, from their singular variation of plumage, demand 
a larger notice at our hands. The following account of the origin of one of these 
strains is from the pen of the present Editor, Mr. Tegetmeier, who writes : — 
The most important abnormal variation hitherto described in the covering of 
birds is the assumption of male plumage by females; this is common in the 
ordinary pheasant, and is always connected with diseased or abortive ovaries. The 
hens exhibiting this change are consequently always sterile. The late Mr. Yarrell 
