BOLTON GRAYS.
Plumage.—In the male bird the plumage of the head, hackle, back, saddle, breast and thighs, should be a clear, silvery-white. The yellowish tinge so often seen upon these feathers is a very grave fault, and one that will not be tolerated by a good judge. There is often a tendency to penciled or smutty markings on the under-color of the back—that is, it can only be seen by raising the top feathers. This is also a serious defect, and should be avoided. The tail proper is black, the sickles and tail-coverts being a rich green-black, with a fine and distinct edging of white.
This is the most difficult point to obtain in the plumage of the entire bird in any degree of perfection—indeed, a perfectly-marked tail is seldom seen in a cock. Some birds have marbled tails; others have the sickles splashed with white, which is equally objectionable, as the only white which should be in the tail is the clear edging. The wing appears almost white when closed; but the inner webs of the wing-coverts should be darkly penciled. A fine black edging should be observed on the wing-coverts, caused by the ends of the outer webs being also slightly tipped with black, which gives the appearance of a slight and indistinct bar on the wing. This point should be distinctly observable, but not too coarse or heavy. The color of the secondary quills is also important. They should be white on the outer web, except a narrow strip of black next the quill, only seen when the wing is opened out, the wing appearing white when closed. The inner web is black, except a narrow white or gray edging. The fluff should be slightly penciled or gray. In the hen the neck-hackle should be pure white, entirely free from any marking whatever. The remainder of the plumage should be a clear, silvery-white, each feather distinctly penciled or marked across with bars of black, as clear and distinct as possible and in particular as straight across the feather as possible. The finer this penciling and the more numerous the bars, the better. This penciling should extend from the throat to the very tip of the tail. A well-penciled tail is very desirable, and quite difficult to obtain, as there is a special tendency in the long feathers to lose the straightness across of the markings. Tails penciled squarely across to the very tip can be and are bred, but they are never common. One of the greatest faults to which the plumage is liable is the irregular and “horse-shoe” style of markings which we so often see in the breast, and, in fact, nearly every part of the hen’s plumage. This is a most serious defect, and not less to be noticed because of its frequency. A very usual fault is a light breast, or not only light, but covered only with these horse-shoe markings. The birds best marked on the breast are frequently liable to be spotted on the hackle, and this latter fault is certainly much to be preferred to a bad breast. However, the best marking on the breast is never quite equal to that on other parts of the body.
A very desirable point is to have the rows of penciling on one feather fall onto the rows on the next, giving the bird a ruled or lined appearance. A coarsely penciled bird is not to be thought of in these days—although such birds were formerly the rule—as they have a spotty or speckled appearance, which is not the correct thing at all. A finely-penciled wing in hens is almost impossible to find, many of our best show birds being very bad in this respect, the markings being very light and indistinct.
The penciling is much better the first year—or in pullets; with age it becomes cloudy, mossy, or indistinct, so that a well-penciled hen is quite rare. When they do moult out well the second or third season, they are especially valuable, and should be retained for breeding as long as they will breed. All tendency to brownish or chestnut colored feathers (which sometimes make their appearance, although rarely,) should be carefully guarded against, and when they do appear the bird should at once be discarded for breeding purposes.
We have enumerated the faults to which this breed is liable so minutely, not because they are greater than those of many other varieties, but because they require the most skillful breeding to eradicate. As they are among the most beautiful fowls we have, so are they among the most difficult to breed to perfection, and they offer a fine field to intelligent breeders, who like to feel that they owe the perfection of their birds to their own efforts. Those men who want their birds made for them, so that they will breed easily themselves, had better let them alone, for they should only belong to the intelligent and hard-working fancier, who will find them very pliable, and who can reap the reward of his industry and perseverance in beholding in time a fowl that in beauty and utility shall stand unrivaled throughout the world.
Other Points.—The comb in Silver-Penciled Hamburgs is the same as that described in Black Hamburgs, and averages as perfect as in any other variety. It is usually rather smaller, with more “work” or fine points on the top than the comb of the Spangled varieties. The ear-lobe should be pure white, and is usually very good in this respect, it seeming to be one of their firmly-fixed characteristics. The face has the same tendency to white as in the other varieties, and this should be avoided with like caution. In symmetry they are, perhaps, superior to the Spangled varieties, and are equaled only by the Blacks in this respect, birds poor in symmetry being pleasingly scarce. They are not quite so full in the breast as the other varieties we have described, but have an exceedingly graceful carriage, and are upright and sprightly in appearance. Their legs are small, slender, and neat in appearance, and in color, leaden-blue, which should be very dark—approaching black—in young birds.