The Spangled Hamburgh fowl are divided into two varieties, the
distinctive characteristics being slight, and almost dependent upon
color; these varieties are termed the Golden and Silver Spangled.
[Illustration: HAMBURGH FOWLS.]
_The Golden Spangled_ is one of no ordinary beauty; it is well and very
neatly made, has a good body, and no very great offal. On the crest,
immediately above the beak, are two small, fleshy horns, resembling, to
some extent, an abortive comb. Above this crest, and occupying the place
of a comb, is a very large brown or yellow tuft, the feathers composing
it darkening toward their extremities. Under the insertion of the lower
mandible--or that portion of the neck corresponding to the chin in
man--is a full, dark-colored tuft, somewhat resembling a beard. The
wattles are very small; the comb, as in other high-crested fowls, is
very diminutive; and the skin and flesh white. The hackles on the neck
are of a brilliant orange, or golden yellow; and the general
ground-color of the body is of the same hue, but somewhat darker. The
thighs are of a dark-brown or blackish shade, and the legs and feet are
of a bluish gray.
In the _Silver Spangled_ variety, the only perceptible difference is,
that the ground color is a silvery white. The extremity and a portion of
the extreme margin of each feather are black, presenting, when in a
state of rest, the appearance of regular semicircular marks, or
spangles--and hence the name, "Spangled Hamburgh;" the varieties being
termed _gold_ or _silver_, according to the prevailing color being
bright yellow, or silvery white.
The eggs are of moderate size, but abundant; chickens easily reared. In
mere excellence of flesh and as layers, they are inferior to the Dorking
or the Spanish. They weigh from four and a half to five and a half
pounds for the male, and three and a half for the female. The former
stands some twenty inches in height, and the latter about eighteen
inches.