[Illustration: BOLTON GRAYS OR CREOLE FOWL.]
These fowls--called, also, Dutch Every-day Layers, Pencilled Dutch Fowl,
Chittaprats, and, in Pennsylvania, Creole Fowl--were originally imported
from Holland to Bolton, a town in Lancashire, England, whence they were
named.
They are small sized, short in the leg, and plump in the make; color of
the genuine kind, invariably pure white in the whole cappel of the neck;
the body white, thickly spotted with black, sometimes running into a
grizzle, with one or more black bars at the extremity of the tail. A
good cock of this breed may weigh from four to four and a half pounds;
and a hen from three to three and a half pounds.
The superiority of a hen of this breed does not consist so much in rapid
as in continued laying. She may not produce as many eggs in a month as
some other kinds, but she will, it is claimed, lay more months in the
year than probably any other variety. They are said to be very hardy;
but their eggs, in the judgment of some, are rather watery and
innutritious.