greenish-black along the shaft, narrowly bordered with brownish-black,
and this again broadly bordered with very pale yellowish-brown; so that
in general appearance the plumage had become pale-coloured instead of
black. In this case, with advancing age there was a great change, but
no reversion to the red colour of _G. bankiva._
A cock with a regular rose comb derived either from the spangled or
pencilled silver Hamburgh was likewise at first quite black; but in
less than a year the neck-hackles, as in the last case, became whitish,
whilst those on the loins assumed a decided reddish-yellow tint; and
here we see the first symptom of reversion; this likewise occurred with
some other young cocks, which need not here be described. It has also
been recorded[29] by a breeder, that he crossed two silver-pencilled
Hamburgh hens with a Spanish cock, and reared a number of chickens, all
of which were black, the cocks having _ golden_ and the hens brownish
hackles; so that in this instance likewise there was a clear tendency
to reversion.
Two young cocks from my white Game hen were at first snow white; of
these, one subsequently assumed male orange-coloured hackles, chiefly
on the loins, and the other an abundance of fine orange-red hackles on
the neck, loins, and upper wing-coverts. Here again we have a more
decided, though partial, reversion to the colours of _G. bankiva._ This
second cock was in fact coloured like an inferior “pile Came cock;”—now
this sub-breed can be produced, as I am informed by Mr. Tegetmeier, by
crossing a black-breasted red Game cock with a white Game hen, and the
“pile” sub-breed thus produced can afterwards be truly propagated. So
that we have the curious fact of the glossy-black Spanish cock and the
black-breasted red Game cock when crossed with white Game hens
producing offspring of nearly the same colours.
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