THE POULTRY BOOK. 
183 
list of fancy poultry ; combining, as they do, with their universally acknowledged 
beauty, so many of the points of excellence found in those varieties which are bred 
more for utility than ornament.” 
With regard to the disputed question as to whether these birds should be really 
spangled, as their name implies, or laced, we cannot but agree with Mr. Jones that 
some of the best birds that have been exhibited have been of the latter description. 
Most amateurs and judges, however, declare strongly in favour of spangling in 
preference to lacing, and this opinion is supported by the high authority, of the 
Standard of Excellence.” That good birds of this variety existed many years 
since, may be gathered from the following communication from Mr. Hewitt : — 
Spangled Polish certainly did exist, bred as truly to feather as any other variety 
of fowls, within the space of some twenty-five years. About that time I had 
opportunities of closely inspecting them, as they were kept within a few doors of 
the house in which I then resided. From this circumstance I can speak v/ith the 
most entire confidence of the exactness of the following brief description. In size 
they very closely resembled those to which we now give the designation of Spangled 
Polish ; but they differed in the extraordinary intensity of the blue colour of the 
legs ; the spurs in the adult males were of ivory whiteness, and had a tendency to 
turn up, until they nearly touched the knee-joints. Of combs they had not even 
the rudiment ; and the wattles were only slightly developed. The ear-lobes were 
florid, tinged with white about their centres. The ground colour of the plumage 
was white, the whole of the feather being clear, without any lineal markings, and 
simply tipped with an iridescent black spangle. In the hens this marking was 
nearly circular, and without the slightest vestige of wdiite beyond it. In the cocks, 
particularly the old ones, the crests flowed freely on all sides, and eventually 
became an impediment to their feeding, unless the corn was placed in a trough. 
The feathers in their crests, being naturally of a similar conformation to those of 
the neck-hackle, showed a fringe of white beyond the black spot towards the tip. 
The tails of both sexes were clear, spangled at the extremity, as in the Silver- 
spangled Hamburghs ; the side tail-coverts of the cock being spangled also : 
adding greatly to the beauty of the bird. On the saddle of the hens, where the 
feathers closely overlapped, the distinctness of the spots gave way to a somewhat 
increased depth of colour, that was really objectionable ; still, any of these feathers, 
examined separately, proved to be equally correctly spangled. The wings were 
simply double ‘ barred,’ by the close position of the spangles ; but no sign of side- 
lacings was perceptible. The lesser flight-feathers were v/ell marked at the ex- 
tremities only. The first imported parent birds, that came originally from Lisbon, 
were Silvers ; but in the course of a few generations they sported several Golden 
chickens, but always marked as their predecessors. These were purposely mated 
for two successive years, without any possibility whatever of access to their 
lighter-coloured relatives ; yet, strange to say, they never bred any but Silver 
chickens, and those without the least impurity of the ground colour. These 
spangled birds proved themselves most abundant layers and non-sitters, and 
