The head should have a slight fulness over the eye, giving breadth to the top; a full, pearl eye is much admired, but far from common; comb either a small single, or pea-comb--the single resembling that of the Cochin; the neck short; the breast wide and full; the legs short, yellow, and well-feathered, but not so fully as in the finest Cochins; and the tail short but full, and in the cock opening into a fan. They should be wide and deep made, large and weighty, and have a free, noble carriage, equally distinct from the waddle of the Cochin, and the erect bearing of the Malay. Unlike the Cochins, they keep constantly to their colour, which is a mixture of black, white, and grey; the lightest being almost white, and the darkest consisting of grey markings on a white ground. The colour is entirely a matter of taste, but the bottom colour should always be grey. "After breeding Brahmas for many years," says Miss Watts, "through many generations and crosses (always, however, keeping to families imported direct from America), we are quite confirmed in the opinion that the pea-comb is _the_ comb for the Brahma; and this seems now a settled question, for single-combed birds never take prizes when passable pea-combed birds are present. The leading characteristic of the peculiar comb, named by the Americans the pea-comb, is its triple character. It may be developed and separated almost like three combs, or nearly united into one; but its triple form is always evident. What we think most beautiful is, where the centre division is a little fluted, slightly serrated, and flanked by two little side combs. The degree of the division into three varies, and the peculiarities of the comb may be less perceptible in December than when the hens are laying; but the triple character of the pea-comb is always evident. It shows itself in the chick at a few days old, in three tiny paralleled lines." It is thick at the base, and like three combs joined into one, the centre comb being higher than the other, but the comb altogether must be low, rounded at the top, and the indentations must not be deep. Whether single or triple, all the combs in a pen should be uniform. The dark and light varieties should not be crossed, as, according to Mr. Teebay, who was formerly the most extensive and successful breeder of Brahmas in England, the result is never satisfactory. CHAPTER XII. MALAYS.