Butch, I'm quite sure you are correct about the best skin heads for the earlier banjos were very thin calf skin but I have a feeling way back then still born and premature calves may not have been stock piled for the use of banjo skin heads. I'm quite sure calf skin creates a very clear tone & strong voice for the banjo. But if I lived in a remote area with not much available to me on hand, if I had a 'chicken-killen' cat that was pissing me off, guess whose skin I'd be using?

Bonnie