102 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION, November 
perfect in shape. It is white, l grant; hut it hangs down 
like a Spanish fowl’s lobe. The third pullet, you will see, 
has a very spotted hackle, almost always tire case when the 
tail is well pencilled. That hen has a beautiful neck, but 
her tail would disqualify her at any Show. The third has a 
| good neck and tail; her body is beautifully pencilled; she 
is a lovely hen, and if her comb were straight there would 
be nothing to desire.” 
“ You said, just now, they were excellent.” 
So they are, but -” 
“ Nay,” said I, “no more but. s. Come again to-morrow.” 
Now, I knew my fowls were good, more than good; and 
after dismissing my friend, I returned to the ground where 
i they' were. I looked at them a long time, and although I 
I would not admit it, I saw, for the first time, there were 
I defects in the ear-lobe of the cock, and in the tails and 
' combs of the hens. They had always existed, even while 
they were taking prizes ; but I had not before noticed them. 
Doubt had entered my mind, and I left the birds in a 
j dissatisfied humour. 
My friend came the next day ; again lie pointed out the 
1 defects, and enlarged upon them, until, at last, I expressed 
my sorrow that I had entered them for a neighbouring 
Show. “ They may pass,” said he, with an expression of 
pity in his face; “but ” (and he gave a knowing look), “they 
would not if I were Judge.” I was vexed, and, instead of 
sending them, I sold them. 
I visited the Show as soon as it was open, and, meeting 
one of the Judges whom I knew, asked him to name the 
best pen of Hamburglis, as I was determined to have the 
best. “ Buy the Cup pen, beyond a doubt,” said he; “ they 
are birds of surpassing merit.” 
I looked, I laughed—“ it was so curus.” There were my 
discarded birds, the distinguished above all in the Show! 
I knew they were good birds; my opinion had been 
endorsed by the best Judges in the country; and yet I 
wilfully, and with open eyes, allowed a friend, not half so 
good a judge as myself, to swear me out of my birds and the 
Silver Cup; or, at least, to “ damn them with faint praise.” 
We may deny it as strenuously as we will, and may brag 
of our independence, but it is useless ; we do care for the 
opinion of other people; and on the co-operation or 
opposition of those around us depends our happiness. 
I would, however, having said and admitted this, warn 
exhibitors against being led entirely by soi-disanl judges. 
There never was, and never will be, a perfect pen. How 
often do we see a first-prize pen at a ridiculously low price, 
because some friend advised the owner to put it in and 
sell it 1 
When one of the defeated sees the amazed look of the 
winner at the label “ Silver Cup,” and “ sold,” he laughs— 
“ it is so curus. ” 
WARNING. 
In one of the numbers of The Cottage Gardener for 
j September there is an advertisement for some pure white¬ 
faced Spanish fowls from a man named Clifford, of Man¬ 
chester. Having some to part with, I answered the 
! advertisement, ottering and requesting a reference. The 
references given me were to Jas. M. Gardiner, Esq, 10, Bank 
View, Collyhurst, near Manchester, and E. Bramley, Esq., 
Vauxhall Road, Manchester. I ultimately sent twenty-two 
very beautiful birds; and from there being some delay in 
i the delivery, the police saw the hamper, and informed the 
| railway authorities that no such person is to be found at 
! that address, and it turns out that all three parties are in 
i league together. The end of it is, that twelve of my poor 
l birds are starved to death, and ten I received back again, 
with 18s. Cd. expenses to pay upon them. I am sure you 
I would do your readers a great service by cautioning them 
i against such parties, and suggest to them not only the 
| desirability of a reference, but to ascertain who the referees 
are. 
| The letters are well written, and have every appearance 
of respectability.—G. A. Beardmore, Springfield House, 
Basford, Notts. 
[In selling fowls we advise prepayment to be required, 
with an understanding to return the money, after deducting 
expenses, if the birds are returned.—E d. C. G.] 
11, 185G. 
GOLD AND SILVER-PENCILLED FOWLS. 
In The Cottage Gardener for October the 7th I jjer- 
ceive, in answer to a correspondent, “ IT. N.,” relative to the 
colouring of a Golden-pencilled cock’s tail, some remarks 
worthy of notice. You say, “ The ground colour of the tail 
of a Golden-pencilled Hamburgh cock should be black, 
all the feathers should he edged with a rich deep brown, but 
none should be entirely of that colour;” while your cor¬ 
respondent, “W. H., Exeter," on the preceding page, says, 
“ The tail as bronzy as possible, with the sickle feathers well 
marked if you can.” Between these widely different an¬ 
swers, the one advocating a black tail, the feathers only edged 
with bronze, and the other desiring it as bronzy as possible, 
I fear “ H. N.” will not find it very easy to decide. 1 there¬ 
fore beg to be allowed to make a few remarks on the colour 
of the tails of Golden and Silver-pencilled cocks, for though 
I strongly object to their being called Hamburglis, yet I am 
a fancier and breeder of the variety, and it is my opinion 
that the tails of both Golden and Silver-pencilled cocks 
should be a deep unspotted black ; that the tail-coverts, or, 
as they are commonly called, the sickle feathers, should be 
of a deep glossy black, with green and purple reflections, 
and finely edged or laced with, in the Golden, coppery 
brown or bronze, and, in the Silver, greyish white. I am 
aware that this opinion is adverse to that of some of our 
judges and exhibitors, and that they consider a wholly 
bronzed or silvered tail of much importance; but such 
theory is not borne out by the experience of the practical 
breeder. Numbers of instances might be quoted to show 
the fallacy of the bronzy tails. “W. H., Exeter," says, 
“ Indeed, as a class, they are more uncertain of throwing 
good offspring than any other kinds of the Hamburgh 
breed.” How often, too, is it noticeable in the show-pen 
that the cocks with the most silvered or bronzed tails are 
matched with the worst-marked hens ; while few who went 
to the late Anerley Show, if they had any idea of the points 
of a Pencilled hen, could have passed unnoticed two pens 
of magnificently-marked Silver hens, better than which I 
never remember seeing, with a card above them which in¬ 
formed the public that the hens only were sold to Mr. 
Archer, a pretty plain indication that that gentleman ap¬ 
preciated their value; but he neglected the cocks ; nor were 
the pens noticed by the Judges. And why? because they 
had black tails. The sickle feathers were only edged, as I 
contend they ought to be; and, moreover, they had the 
bars on the wings, so difficult a point to be obtained in 
this breed. 
As I find, in your answer to “ H. N.,” you say, “ Barred 
wings are wrong for Pencilled Hamburglis,” allow me to ex¬ 
plain what I mean by the bars on the wings of the Pencilled 
cocks. I do not mean a double row of moons or spots, like 
those of the Pheasant fowl, or so-called Spangled Ham¬ 
burgh, but simply an irregular narrow black line across the 
wing, formed by small spots on the end of the first row of I 
wing-covert feathers. These covert feathers should be 
barred with black on the inner web, which is hidden from 
view, the outer being clear, either red in the Golden or 
whitish in the Silver, and quite free from white in the Golden 
or brown in the Silver, with a narrow black spot at the 
point, which forms the bars. 
My reason for advocating the black tail and bars on the 
wings is, the necessity of a certain depth of under-colour in 
the cock ; for as the male parent influences the plumage of 
the female offspring, so, if the cock has not a sufficiently 
dark under-colour, he cannot, as a rule, produce dark, well- 
marked pullets; and it is therefore necessary that the 
cock should have a black tail, black pinion feathers, that the 
inner webs of the secondary wing feathers should be black, 
and the inner web of the greater covert feathers should be 
barred with black. These I consider as the outward signs 
of a Pencilled cock's being likely to produce good, well- 
marked hens. I do not pretend that it is an infallible rule— 
exceptions may occur; nevertheless, my experience shows 
that a cock with good depth of under-colour will, as a 
general rule, produce much handsomer pullets, and in much 
greater abundance, than a light one with silver tail or 
white pinion feathers—a point which is too often disregarded 
by our judges and breeders of this truly beautiful and useful 
variety. 
