72 
HISTORY OF ANCONAS 
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Selecting Ancona Breeders 
■j py 
By W. D. White 
I advise a breeder to select the An¬ 
cona he wishes to use in his breeding 
pen, and note the different points, one 
by one, as he handles his bird. 
Place the left hand under the bird, 
with the forefingers between its legs, 
holding them firmly. This leaves the 
right hand free to manipulate the bird 
as desired. 
Let us now note a few points about 
the general appearance of the bird. Be¬ 
ginning at the head, is it distinctly 
masculine if a cock bird, if a hen is it 
decidedly feminine in character? We 
do not desire a male with a small fem¬ 
inine comb and head or a female with a 
beefy comb and masculine head. With 
the correct type in our mind or before 
us in picture given in the standard of 
perfection let us ask ourselves how the 
bodily appearance of the specimen in 
hand compares with the standard, turn¬ 
ing the bird over in our hand to note 
its shape from all angles. Next ob¬ 
serve the legs and feet. We want the 
male with strong sturdy legs and the 
female with trim neat ones. Let us 
now note the general color, is it a light 
or dark specimen? Is the under color 
a dark slate or light inclined to white? 
Are the quills of the feathers white or 
black? Are the white mottlings of the 
feathers profuse or intermittent? Are 
the feet and legs dark or light yellow? 
Now notice carefully the following- 
points and determine whether the bird 
has any disqualifications. Has it green, 
blue or black legs? Has it any red 
or brown feathers in the hackle or else¬ 
where? Is there much red in the ear 
lobes or any positive white skin on the 
face? Are there any side sprigs or 
protuberances on the comb? Is the 
back or tail crooked or twisted? Is 
there much purple tinge or barring on 
the feathers? Now with this prelimi¬ 
nary survey of the bird in question we 
have well in mind its main character¬ 
istics, its strong points and its main 
defects or possible disqualifications. 
To know definitely the qualifications 
of the bird as a breeder for color, let 
us turn to the index of color of the An¬ 
cona (as the writer calls it). Opening 
the wing to the full extent, turn the 
bird over so you can see the row of 
small feathers on the inside of the wing 
at the base of the primary and secon¬ 
dary feathers. Note the proportionate 
amount of black and white in these. 
Are they all black? Are they tipped 
with white? Are there some that are 
all white? Your bird will be all black, 
evenly mottled, or splashed with a cer¬ 
tain number of white feathers accord¬ 
ing to the index as indicated by the 
above row of hidden feathers. If they 
show a preponderance of white you 
may look for white in six places; 
among the primary and secondary 
feathers of the wing, among the hackle 
feathers, especially at the base of the 
neck, among the feathers of the face, 
among the feathers on either hip, 
among the feathers at the base of the 
tail, and among the feathers of the tail. 
If white is found at the majority of 
these places and the under color is 
light instead of slate, the writer would 
not recommend this bird as a breeder 
for color in exhibition birds. 
Let us now notice some points as to 
the shape of the specimen. Hold the 
bird so you can look down on its back 
