Now having furnished your self with a breed that is stout and sure
stricken; see then to the Shape, and know that here you ought to be
very nice and circumspect, strictly examining every Part, and if
by the severest scrutiny you find your Cock to be foul Grown, or
disproportioned, reject him as a Bird unhandsome to look on, uneasy to
Match, unwealdy in his Fight, oft times unfortunate in his Battle, and
for these reasons ever unfit for breed, and consequently unworthy of
your care, or least regard, notwithstanding the Stock be never so good
from whence he is derived.
And therefore I shall here delineate and set forth to you the true
Shapes pertaining to a compleat Cock in all respects, whereby you may
be able with all the ease and facility imaginable, to discover the
defects and imperfections of these Birds, and give a right definition
of a Cock exactly Shaped, when need requires it.
And first I shall begin with the Head, which must be adorned with a
lofty tow’ring Frontlet, or Comb, smoothly cut into the exact Shape
of a Half Moon, so that rising in the Middle, it serves both for a
Guard, and an Ornament to the Royal Bird; his Beak, or Bill, ought
to be crooked, strong, and firm, of a middle size, and well jointed
in his Head, with large Nostrils therein: his Eyes should imitate
the Sparrow-Hawks, appearing quick, clear, and large; his Head ought
to be round, smooth and small; his Neck short, strong, and well
cemented, with a full set of Feathers for his Mane, that are strong and
glittering Plumes, the better to set off his Crest, which ought to
rise a little in the middle: his Back strong, crook’d, and big at
the setting on: his Breast broad and large; his Body in all respects
strongly made, round, close and well built, penipotent, fresh, and
full Feather’d; his Legs strong, clear, and impennous, and if a little
crooked ’tis so much the better, for that always denotes a deadly
Heeler; his Feet with a Frog flat, and small therein; his Claws almost
straight, strong and sharp: and for his Spurs (so he have any) it
matters not what they be, seeing they are now of no use, save only to
set to the Weapons with which they Fight in pitched Battles. And as
for the Colour of your Cock, that is the best which you fancy most,
be it Black or White, Red or Dun, Grey or Piled, or any other Colour
whatever: For though Captain _Markham_ makes a great difference in the
Colour of Cocks, preferring the Grey before the White or Dun, yet is
there nothing in it, for the World affords no better Birds for the Game
than many of your Duns, and Whites prove, both for Hardness and good
Heeling, as we daily see and experience.
_The Scarlet colour’d Cock my Lord likes best,
And next to him, the Grey with Tresle-breast,
This Knight is for the Pile, or else the Black:
A third cries no Cock like Dun Yellow-back:
The Milk-white Cock with Golden Legs and Bill,
Or else the Cuckoo, chuse you which you will:
Don Magnus _swears (of all) these are the best,
They heel (says he) more sure than all the rest:
But this is all meer fancy and no more,
The Colour’s nothing, as I said before._
And therefore without taking any notice of the Colour, I shall only
hold you close, to the afore-mentioned shape as being the all, and only
parts necessary to make up a compleat Cock.