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THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, November 15, 185$. 
classes being not less than 180, which include 78 pens of chickens ; 
while in the useful class of Dorking pullets there are 43 entries. 
If the promoters of the Birmingham Show had done nothing 
more than direct general attention to this most valuable breed of 
poultry, their labours would have been amply rewarded by the 
increased popularity the variety has obtained ; but the improve¬ 
ment of our domestic poultry has unquestionably extended to all 
our breeds since the establishment of the pleasant contests in 
Bingley Hall. With regard to those lovely little favourites, the 
Pigeons, rumour also speaks well; and there are good grounds 
for the opinion that the Pigeon Show at Birmingham will in 
future be still more extensively supported by all the principal 
breeders. We expect to see some birds of a higher class than 
have ever before been collected in Bingley Hall .—(Midland 
Counties Herald.) 
PURE COLOURS OF GAME FOWLS. 
“ Aw Amateur ” would feel obliged if any of your corre¬ 
spondents would give a list of what are considered the pure colours 
of Game fowls. 
[You impose upon us a very difficult task, and we therefore 
echo your request, and say we shall feel obliged if any of our 
correspondents will give a list of pure colours of Game fowls. 
At the same time we think we are bound to have an opinion, and, 
therefore give it. 
Black-breasted Reds. Duckwings. Blacks. 
Whites. Blues. Brown-breasted Reds. 
The last are, perhaps, less to be depended upon in breeding 
than the others. The Piles are supposed to be “ composite,” 
but they breed true. The same may be said of the Brassy- 
winged. 
In speaking of the breed of Game fowls from observation, it 
must always be borne in mind that for many years it was carried 
on exclusively for the pit, and good fighters were used without 
reference to colour. We will some day publish from an authentic 
list the different colours and distinguishing marks of a main 
fought more than a century ago. It will there be seen that there 
was hardly what we should now term a pure bird among the 
cocks. The traditions of these have been carefully handed down ; 
and we have no doubt there are places where the breed is still 
preserved, and where it is considered a virtue to show variety of 
colour. Some years since the first-prize Game cock at Birming¬ 
ham had a breast that resembled the pallet of a painter who had 
placed on it a patch of every colour he could find or invent. By 
many this bird was considered a living combination of every 
known shade; but his owner was prepared to prove him pure, 
and that the breed was well known and extensively kept in his 
locality.] 
MINGLING VARIETIES-DUCKWING GAME. 
Many years since I entered the poultry field of competition 
with Gold-spangled Hamburghs, but got beaten by hybrids, 
mixtures of Moonies, Pheasants, Redcaps, &c. After being to¬ 
lerably well riled at my failure with my Crystal Palace birds, 
January, 1857 (chickens), I sold them, and bought and bred all 
sorts of birds, at different times, placing them at several farms. 
They were mostly Andalusians, Black Hamburghs, Blue Ban¬ 
tams, Duckwing Game, Malays, Cochins, and mixtures of the 
two last named, now termed Brahmas. A white Spanish hen 
would be thrown down to an Andalusian cock, for the purpose of 
lightening the hue of this class, and making them more self- 
coloured. A Black Spanish cock would be similarily affianced to 
a Silver-pencilled Hamburgh hen, to produce Black Hamburghs. 
Blue Bantams were produced as sports of the White and Black 
ones. Malays, both red and white, were tolerably pure, as also 
the Cochins, and the mixture of the two latter, as before men¬ 
tioned, produced even with the first cross an indifferently well¬ 
looking Brahma. What they would have done under the eye of 
a breeder of this class alone, when judiciously crossed some twice 
or three times, I am unable to say. But more to the point, in 
reference to Duckwings as at present exhibited, in the person of 
the prize cock under surveillance, with regard to his purity of 
strain. Undoubtedly there are two distinct varieties of the Duck¬ 
wing, independent of the Birchins, and others of these sub- 
varieties, properly classed, or, at least, separately so. The Black- 
breasted Silver-grey Duckwing is not so rakeish looking a bird as 
the yellow-hackled. He is shorter in the face, leg, and bill, a 
trifle too short, also, in the neck, body, and stern, and only long 
whero he ought not to be—in the feather. In truth, an unequal 
match for almost any cross-bred Game bird. N ow, in order to 
remedy these defects, he has been from a long uncertain number 
of years crossed with the red bird, giving him closer texture, 
finer points, greater weight, the maroon saddle, and tinged 
hackle. The loot note to “II. M., Glasgow's ” communication 
is quite true. The old prints, or rather pictures, pourtray the 
dark saddles, and seldom or ever the light ones, because they 
were probably portraits, and owed their figure and prowess to 
this judicious mixture; but in regard to their reproducing their 
clan true to a feather, it is not to be wondered at, seeing the 
length of period since, probably, this amalgamation first took 
place, and cross-breeds will produce their like after a few judicious 
crosses. A stray bird being the exception, and not the rule. 
I hear so much about the purity of breed from birds not 
throwing back, that I am inclined, and do , class every single one 
of our domestic poultry as more or less made up and manufac¬ 
tured. Well, now we come to the starting point. Is a maroon- 
backed and yellow-hackled Duckwing Grey cock the veritable 
animal he is represented ? I can only say he is not of recent 
manufacture, or, at least, ought not to he, and so let him take his 
place; he is no worse than others styled Puritans. But in justice 
to those who have bred the Silvers,—and I know they are de¬ 
cently pure,—it is not fair to crow them out entirely. I do 
really think if you imagine they are not quite up to the mark for 
prizetaking, that something like fan- play and a prize or two, 
ought to be awarded to them. 
The best evidence of the purity of the Crystal Palace cock 
w r ould be, that, if with a purely well-known good grey hen he 
should produce some chickens with pinky feathers, depend upon 
it you might suspect his getting up.—W. H., JExeter. 
PLUMAGE OF SILVER-SPANGLED POLANDS. 
As a poultry fancier of forty years standing, I am much 
pleased to find the ill-judged doubts raised by Mr. Brent, re¬ 
specting the sex of a Spanish chicken exhibited in pen 22, at the 
late Crystal Palace Show, are at length so conclusively settled, 
and that, too, after a fashion that must be “unmistakeable,” 
and amply sufficient to remove all scepticism from the mind of 
even Mr. Brent himself. To most amateurs it will be really 
astounding how so gross a misconception could, even at the 
outset, present itself to any true poultry fancier who actually 
saw the bird. Yet so it must have been. This difficulty, how¬ 
ever, is rendered more incomprehensible by the fact Mr. Brent 
should afterwards persist in maintaining so incorrect an opinion. 
This question now settled, however, perchance a wholesome 
lesson may acrue from poultry critics perfectly assuring to them¬ 
selves the necessary practical information before attempting to 
dogmatise to others. Not having the slightest knowledge of Mr. 
Brent, nothing can be further from my views than to speak 
offensively. Still, I can only judge of his general information as 
to all varieties of fancy poultry by his writings, and there cannot 
be a doubt that he has openly committed himself to quite as grave 
an error as on Spanish when treating of Silver-spangled li am- 
burghs. He states, “ The combination of striped hackles with 
clear tails is an unnatural and impossible theory; in practice, 
only producing disappointment.” It is admittedly difficult to 
obtain, but, undoubtedly, it has frequently been achieved, and 
these all-important (combined) traits of character are, from such 
parents, not difficult to perpetuate. 
A visit to Birmingham, Liverpool, indeed to most of our 
north-country Shows, will give Mr. Brent the opportunity of 
correcting his judgment on this question also.— Justicia. 
CROSS BETWEEN COCHIN-CHINAandSPANISH. 
BREEDING FROM IMPERFECT BIRDS. 
If you can spare me a little space in the poultry department 
of your paper, I will give a few of my own observations on 
poultry matters. 
My first hatch of chickens this year were Golden-pencilled 
Hamburghs, and first saw the light on the 7th of March. The 
hen who hatched them is cross-bred between a Cochin and a 
Spanish, and she goes by the name of “ Old Smut.” I think 
that for all purposes this cross is a most excellent one. The 
hens are first-rate layers and sitters. I have several of them. 
They lay all through the winter, which is the time when eggs are 
most valuable, and the eggs are veiy largo and plenty of them 5 
