These were imported by a British army officer stationed in Burma in about 1880. It was believed that they had died out before 1914, until Rare Poultry Society Founder Andrew Sheppy (1949–2017) was given a group by an elderly fancier in Wiltshire in 1970. A new ‘facsimile’ strain has been made in The Netherlands, but they do not yet fit the drawings made by J.W. Ludlow of the originals a century ago nearly as well as the strain that miraculously survived here. They are broadly similar to booted bantams but smaller with a lower tail carriage, which gives the Burmese a longer overall appearance, and a feathered crest in addition to a single comb. The original imports in 1880 were whites. Other colours of Burmese bantams, mentioned in old books, are believed to have been the result of crossing the few imports with Booted bantams in an attempt to increase numbers and vigour.