FOWLS.
BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE CHIEF BREEDS.
ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF THEIR DESCENT FROM SEVERAL SPECIES.
ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF ALL THE BREEDS HAVING DESCENDED FROM GALLUS BANKIVA.
REVERSION TO THE PARENT-STOCK IN COLOUR.
ANALOGOUS VARIATIONS.
ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE FOWL.
EXTERNAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SEVERAL BREEDS.
EGGS.
CHICKENS.
SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS.
WING-AND TAIL-FEATHERS, VOICE, DISPOSITION, ETC.
OSTEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES IN THE SKULL, VERTEBRAE, ETC.
EFFECTS OF USE AND DISUSE ON CERTAIN PARTS.
CORRELATION OF GROWTH.
As some naturalists may not be familiar with the chief breeds of the fowl,
it will be advisable to give a condensed description of them. (7/1. I have
drawn up this brief synopsis from various sources, but chiefly from
information given me by Mr. Tegetmeier. This gentleman has kindly looked
through this chapter; and from his well-known knowledge, the statements
here given may be fully trusted. Mr. Tegetmeier has likewise assisted me in
every possible way in obtaining for me information and specimens. I must
not let this opportunity pass without expressing my cordial thanks to Mr.
B.P. Brent, a well-known writer on poultry, for continuous assistance and
the gift of many specimens.) From what I have read and seen of specimens
brought from several quarters of the world, I believe that most of the
chief kinds have been imported into England, but many sub-breeds are
probably still unknown here. The following discussion on the origin of the
various breeds and on their characteristic differences does not pretend to
completeness, but may be of some interest to the naturalist. The
classification of the breeds cannot, as far as I can see, be made natural.
They differ from each other in different degrees, and do not afford
characters in subordination to each other, by which they can be ranked in
group under group. They seem all to have diverged by independent and
different roads from a single type. Each chief breed includes differently
coloured sub-varieties, most of which can be truly propagated, but it would
be superfluous to describe them. I have classed the various crested fowls
as sub-breeds under the Polish fowl; but I have great doubts whether this
is a natural arrangement, showing true affinity or blood relationship. It
is scarcely possible to avoid laying stress on the commonness of a breed;
and if certain foreign sub-breeds had been largely kept in this country
they would perhaps have been raised to the rank of main-breeds. Several
breeds are abnormal in character; that is, they differ in certain points
from all wild Gallinaceous birds. At first I made a division of the breeds
into normal and abnormal, but the result was wholly unsatisfactory.
[1. GAME BREED.
This may be considered as the typical breed, as it deviates only slightly
from the wild Gallus bankiva, or, as perhaps more correctly named,
ferrugineus. Beak strong; comb single and upright. Spurs long and sharp.
Feathers closely appressed to the body. Tail with the normal number of 14
feathers. Eggs often pale buff. Disposition indomitably courageous,
exhibited even in the hens and chickens. An unusual number of differently
coloured varieties exist, such as black and brown-breasted reds, duckwings,
blacks, whites, piles, etc., with their legs of various colours.
2. MALAY BREED.
Body of great size, with head, neck, and legs elongated; carriage erect;
tail small, sloping downwards, generally formed of 16 feathers; comb and
wattle small; ear-lobe and face red; skin yellowish; feathers closely
appressed to the body; neck-hackles short, narrow, and hard. Eggs often
pale buff. Chickens feather late. Disposition savage. Of Eastern origin.
3. COCHIN, OR SHANGAI BREED.
Size great; wing feathers short, arched, much hidden in the soft downy
plumage; barely capable of flight; tail short, generally formed of 16
feathers, developed at a late period in the young males; legs thick,
feathered; spurs short, thick; nail of middle toe flat and broad; an
additional toe not rarely developed; skin yellowish. Comb and wattle well
developed. Skull with deep medial furrow; occipital foramen, sub-
triangular, vertically elongated. Voice peculiar. Eggs rough, buff-
coloured. Disposition extremely quiet. Of Chinese origin.
4. DORKING BREED.
Size great; body square, compact; feet with an additional toe; comb well
developed, but varies much in form; wattles well developed; colour of
plumage various. Skull remarkably broad between the orbits. Of English
origin.
The white Dorking may be considered as a distinct sub-breed, being a less
massive bird.
(FIGURE 30. SPANISH FOWL.)
5. SPANISH BREED (figure 30).
Tall, with stately carriage; tarsi long; comb single, deeply serrated, of
immense size; wattles largely developed; the large ear-lobes and sides of
face white. Plumage black glossed with green. Do not incubate. Tender in
constitution, the comb being often injured by frost. Eggs white, smooth, of
large size. Chickens feather late but the young cocks show their masculine
characters, and crow at an early age. Of Mediterranean origin.
The ANDALUSIANS may be ranked as a sub-breed: they are of a slaty-blue
colour, and their chickens are well feathered. A smaller, short-legged
Dutch sub-breed has been described by some authors as distinct.
(FIGURE 31. HAMBURGH FOWL.)
6. HAMBURGH BREED (figure 31).
Size moderate; comb flat, produced backwards, covered with numerous small
points; wattle of moderate dimensions; ear lobe white; legs blueish, thin.
Do not incubate. Skull, with the tips of the ascending branches of the
premaxillary and with the nasal bones standing a little separate from each
other; anterior margin of the frontal bones less depressed than usual.
There are two sub-breeds; the SPANGLED Hamburgh, of English origin, with
the tips of the feathers marked with a dark spot; and the PENCILLED
Hamburgh, of Dutch origin, with dark transverse lines across each feather,
and with the body rather smaller. Both these sub-breeds include gold and
silver varieties, as well as some other sub-varieties. Black Hamburghs have
been produced by a cross with the Spanish breed.
(FIGURE 32. POLISH FOWL.)
7. CRESTED OR POLISH BREED (figure 32).
Head with a large, rounded crest of feathers, supported on a hemispherical
protuberance of the frontal bones, which includes the anterior part of the
brain. The ascending branches of premaxillary bones and the inner nasal
processes are much shortened. The orifice of the nostrils raised and
crescentic. Beak short. Comb absent, or small and of crescentic shape;
wattles either present or replaced by a beard-like tuft of feathers. Legs
leaden-blue. Sexual differences appear late in life. Do not incubate. There
are several beautiful varieties which differ in colour and slightly in
other respects.
The following sub-breeds agree in having a crest, more or less developed,
with the comb, when present, of crescentic shape. The skull presents nearly
the same remarkable peculiarities of structure as in the true Polish fowl.
SUB-BREED (a) SULTANS.
A Turkish breed, resembling white Polish fowls with a large crest and beard
with short and well-feathered legs. The tail is furnished with additional
sickle feathers. Do not incubate. (7.2. The best account of Sultans is by
Miss Watts in 'The Poultry Yard' 1856 page 79. I owe to Mr. Brent's
kindness the examination of some specimens of this breed.)
SUB-BREED (b) PTARMIGANS.
An inferior breed closely allied to the last, white, rather small, legs
much feathered, with the crest pointed; comb small, cupped; wattles small.
SUB-BREED (c) GHOONDOOKS.
Another Turkish breed having an extraordinary appearance; black and
tailless; crest and beard large; legs feathered. The inner processes of the
two nasal bones come into contact with each other, owing to the complete
abortion of the ascending branches of the premaxillaries. I have seen an
allied white, tailless breed from Turkey.
SUB-BREED (D) CREVE-COEUR.
A French breed of large size, barely capable of flight, with short black
legs, head crested, comb produced into two points or horns, sometimes a
little branched like the horns of a stag; both beard and wattles present.
Eggs large. Disposition quiet. (7/3. A good description, with figures, is
given of this sub-breed in the 'Journal of Horticulture' June 10, 1862 page
206.)
SUB-BREED (e) HORNED FOWL.
With a small crest; comb produced into two great points, supported on two
bony protuberances.
SUB-BREED (f) HOUDAN.
A French breed; of moderate size, short-legged with five toes, well
developed; plumage invariably mottled with black, white, and straw-yellow;
head furnished with a crest, on a triple comb placed transversely; both
wattles and beard present. (7/4. A description, with figures, is given of
this breed in 'Journal of Horticulture' June 3, 1862 page 186. Some writers
describe the comb as two-horned.)
SUB-BREED (g) GUELDERLANDS.
No comb, head said to be surmounted by a longitudinal crest of soft velvety
feathers; nostrils said to be crescentic; wattles well developed; legs
feathered; colour black. From North America. The Breda fowl seems to be
closely allied to the Guelderland.
8. BANTAM BREED.
Originally from Japan (7/5. Mr. Crawfurd 'Descript. Dict. of the Indian
Islands' page 113. Bantams are mentioned in an ancient native Japanese
Encyclopaedia, as I am informed by Mr. Birch of the British Museum.)
characterised by small size alone; carriage bold and erect. There are
several sub-breeds, such as the Cochin, Game, and Sebright Bantams, some of
which have been recently formed by various crosses. The Black Bantam has a
differently shaped skull, with the occipital foramen like that of the
Cochin fowl.
9. RUMPLESS FOWLS.
These are so variable in character (7/6. 'Ornamental and Domestic Poultry'
1848.) that they hardly deserve to be called a breed. Any one who will
examine the caudal vertebrae will see how monstrous the breed is.
10. CREEPERS OR JUMPERS.
These are characterised by an almost monstrous shortness of legs, so that
they move by jumping rather than by walking; they are said not to scratch
up the ground. I have examined a Burmese variety, which had a skull of
rather unusual shape.
11. FRIZZLED OR CAFFRE FOWLS.
Not uncommon in India, with the feathers curling backwards, and with the
primary feathers of the wing and tail imperfect; periosteum of bones black.
12. SILK FOWLS.
Feathers silky, with the primary wing and tail-feathers imperfect; skin and
periosteum of bones black; comb and wattles dark leaden-blue; ear-lappets
tinged with blue; legs thin, often furnished with an additional toe. Size
rather small.
13. SOOTY FOWLS.
An Indian breed, having the peculiar appearance of a white bird smeared
with soot, with black skin and periosteum. The hens alone are thus
characterised.]
From this synopsis we see that the several breeds differ considerably, and
they would have been nearly as interesting for us as pigeons, if there had
been equally good evidence that all had descended from one parent-species.
Most fanciers believe that they are descended from several primitive
stocks. The Rev. E.S. Dixon (7/7. 'Ornamental and Domestic Poultry' 1848.)
argues strongly on this side of the question; and one fancier even
denounces the opposite conclusion by asking, "Do we not perceive pervading
this spirit, the spirit of the DEIST?" Most naturalists, with the exception
of a few, such as Temminck, believe that all the breeds have proceeded from
a single species; but authority on such a point goes for little. Fanciers
look to all parts of the world as the possible sources of their unknown
stocks; thus ignoring the laws of geographical distribution. They know well
that the several kinds breed truly even in colour. They assert, but, as we
shall see, on very weak grounds, that most of the breeds are extremely
ancient. They are strongly impressed with the great difference between the
chief kinds, and they ask with force, can differences in climate, food, or
treatment have produced birds so different as the black stately Spanish,
the diminutive elegant Bantam, the heavy Cochin with its many
peculiarities, and the Polish fowl with its great top-knot and protuberant
skull? But fanciers, whilst admitting and even overrating the effects of
crossing the various breeds, do not sufficiently regard the probability of
the occasional birth, during the course of centuries, of birds with
abnormal and hereditary peculiarities; they overlook the effects of
correlation of growth--of the long-continued use and disuse of parts, and
of some direct result from changed food and climate, though on this latter
head I have found no sufficient evidence; and lastly, they all, as far as I
know, entirely overlook the all-important subject of unconscious or
unmethodical selection, though they are well aware that their birds differ
individually and that by selecting the best birds for a few generations
they can improve their stocks.
An amateur writes (7/8. Ferguson 'Illustrated Series of Rare and Prize
Poultry' 1834 page 6 Preface.) as follows: "The fact that poultry have
until lately received but little attention at the hands of the fancier, and
been entirely confined to the domains of the producer for the market, would
alone suggest the improbability of that constant and unremitting attention
having been observed in breeding, which is requisite to the consummating in
the offspring of any two birds transmittable forms not exhibited by the
parents." This at first sight appears true. But in a future chapter on
Selection, abundant facts will be given showing not only that careful
breeding, but that actual selection was practised during ancient periods,
and by barely civilised races of man. In the case of the fowl I can adduce
no direct facts showing that selection was anciently practised; but the
Romans at the commencement of the Christian era kept six or seven breeds,
and Columella "particularly recommends as the best, those sorts that have
five toes and white ears." (7/9. Rev. E.S. Dixon in his 'Ornamental
Poultry' page 203 gives an account of Columella's work.) In the fifteenth
century several breeds were known and described in Europe; and in China, at
nearly the same period, seven kinds were named. A more striking case is
that at present, in one of the Philippine Islands, the semi-barbarous
inhabitants have distinct native names for no less than nine sub-breeds of
the Game fowl. (7/10. Mr. Crawfurd 'On the Relation of the Domesticated
Animals to Civilization' separately printed page 6; first read before the
Brit. Assoc. at Oxford 1860.) Azara (7/11. 'Quadrupedes du Paraguay' tome 2
page 324.), who wrote towards the close of the last century, states that in
the interior parts of South America, where I should not have expected that
the least care would have been taken of poultry, a black-skinned and black-
boned breed is kept, from being considered fertile and its flesh good for
sick persons. Now every one who has kept poultry knows how impossible it is
to keep several breeds distinct unless the utmost care be taken in
separating the sexes. Will it then be pretended that those persons who, in
ancient times and in semi-civilised countries took pains to keep the breeds
distinct, and who therefore valued them, would not occasionally have
destroyed inferior birds and occasionally have preserved their best birds?
This is all that is required. It is not pretended that any one in ancient
times intended to form a new breed, or to modify an old breed according to
some ideal standard of excellence. He who cared for poultry would merely
wish to obtain, and afterwards to rear, the best birds which he could; but
this occasional preservation of the best birds would in the course of time
modify the breed, as surely, though by no means as rapidly, as does
methodical selection at the present day, If one person out of a hundred or
out of a thousand attended to the breeding of his birds, this would be
sufficient; for the birds thus tended would soon become superior to others,
and would form a new strain; and this strain would, as explained in the
last chapter, slowly have its characteristic differences augmented, and at
last be converted into a new sub-breed or breed. But breeds would often be
for a time neglected and would deteriorate; they would, however, partially
retain their character, and afterwards might again come into fashion and be
raised to a standard of perfection higher than their former standard; as
has actually occurred quite recently with Polish fowls. If, however, a
breed were utterly neglected, it would become extinct, as has recently
happened with one of the Polish sub-breeds. Whenever in the course of past
centuries a bird appeared with some slight abnormal structure, such as with
a lark-like crest on its head, it would probably often have been preserved
from that love of novelty which leads some persons in England to keep
rumpless fowls, and others in India to keep frizzled fowls. And after a
time any such abnormal appearance would be carefully preserved, from being
esteemed a sign of the purity and excellence of the breed; for on this
principle the Romans eighteen centuries ago valued the fifth toe and the
white ear-lobe in their fowls.
Thus from the occasional appearance of abnormal characters, though at first
only slight in degree; from the effects of the use and the disuse of parts;
possibly from the direct effects of changed climate and food; from
correlation of growth; from occasional reversions to old and long-lost
characters; from the crossing of breeds, when more than one had been
formed; but, above all, from unconscious selection carried on during many
generations, there is no insuperable difficulty, to the best of my
judgment, in believing that all the breeds have descended from some one
parent-source. Can any single species be named from which we may reasonably
suppose that all are descended? The Gallus bankiva apparently fulfils every
requirement. I have already given as fair an account as I could of the
arguments in favour of the multiple origin of the several breeds; and now I
will give those in favour of their common descent from G. bankiva.
[But it will be convenient first briefly to describe all the known species
of Gallus. The G. sonneratii does not range into the northern parts of
India; according to Colonel Sykes (7/12. 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc.' 1832 page
151.), it presents at different heights of the Ghauts, two strongly marked
varieties, perhaps deserving to be called species. It was at one time
thought to be the primitive stock of all our domestic breeds, and this
shows that it closely approaches the common fowl in general structure; but
its hackles partially consist of highly peculiar, horny laminae,
transversely banded with three colours; and I have met no authentic account
of any such character having been observed in any domestic breed. (7/13.
These feathers have been described by Dr. W. Marshall 'Der Zoolog. Garten'
April 1874 page 124. I examined the feathers of some hybrids raised in the
Zoological Gardens between the male G. sonneratii and a red game-hen, and
they exhibited the true character of those of G. sonneratii, except that
the horny laminae were much smaller.) This species also differs greatly
from the common fowl, in the comb being finely serrated, and in the loins
being destitute of true hackles. Its voice is utterly different. It crosses
readily in India with domestic hens; and Mr. Blyth (7/14. See also an
excellent letter on the Poultry of India by Mr. Blyth in 'Gardener's
Chronicle' 1851 page 619.) raised nearly 100 hybrid chickens; but they were
tender and mostly died whilst young. Those which were reared were
absolutely sterile when crossed inter se or with either parent. At the
Zoological Gardens, however, some 'hybrids of the same parentage were not
quite so sterile: Mr. Dixon, as he informed me, made, with Mr. Yarrell's
aid, particular inquiries on this subject, and was assured that out of 50
eggs only five or six chickens were reared. Some, however, of these half-
bred birds were crossed with one of their parents, namely, a Bantam, and
produced a few extremely feeble chickens. Mr. Dixon also procured some of
these same birds and crossed them in several ways, but all were more or
less infertile. Nearly similar experiments have recently been tried on a
great scale in the Zoological Gardens with almost the same result. (7/15.
Mr. S.J. Salter in 'Natural History Review' April 1863 page 276.) Out of
500 eggs, raised from various first crosses and hybrids, between G.
sonneratii, bankiva, and varius, only 12 chickens were reared, and of these
only three were the product of hybrids inter se. From these facts, and from
the above-mentioned strongly-marked differences in structure between the
domestic fowl and G. sonneratii, we may reject this latter species as the
parent of any domestic breed.
Ceylon possesses a fowl peculiar to the island, viz. G. stanleyii; this
species approaches so closely (except in the colouring of the comb) to the
domestic fowl, that Messrs. Layard and Kellaert (7/16. See also Mr.
Layard's paper in 'Annals and Mag. of Nat. History' 2nd series volume 14
page 62.) would have considered it, as they inform me, as one of the
parent-stocks, had it not been for its singularly different voice. This
bird, like the last, crosses readily with tame hens, and even visits
solitary farms and ravishes them. Two hybrids, a male and female, thus
produced, were found by Mr. Mitford to be quite sterile: both inherited the
peculiar voice of G. stanleyii. This species, then, may in all probability
be rejected as one of the primitive stocks of the domestic fowl.
Java and the islands eastward as far as Flores are inhabited by G. varius
(or furcatus), which differs in so many characters--green plumage,
unserrated comb, and single median wattle--that no one supposes it to have
been the parent of any one of our breeds; yet, as I am informed by Mr.
Crawfurd (7/17. See also Mr. Crawfurd 'Descriptive Dict. of the Indian
Islands' 1856 page 113.), hybrids are commonly raised between the male G.
varius and the common hen, and are kept for their great beauty, but are
invariably sterile: this, however, was not the case with some bred in the
Zoological Gardens. These hybrids were at one time thought to be
specifically distinct, and were named G. aeneus. Mr. Blyth and others
believe that the G. temminckii (7/18. Described by Mr. G.R. Gray 'Proc.
Zoolog. Soc' 1849 page 62.) (of which the history is not known) is a
similar hybrid. Sir J. Brooke sent me some skins of domestic fowls from
Borneo, and across the tail of one of these, as Mr. Tegetmeier observed,
there were transverse blue bands like those which he had seen on the tail-
feathers of hybrids from G. varius, reared in the Zoological Gardens. This
fact apparently indicates that some of the fowls of Borneo have been
slightly affected by crosses with G. varius, but the case may possibly be
one of analogous variation. I may just allude to the G. giganteus, so often
referred to in works on poultry as a wild species; but Marsden (7/19. The
passage from Marsden is given by Mr. Dixon in his 'Poultry Book' page 176.
No ornithologist now ranks this bird as a distinct species.) the first
describer, speaks of it as a tame breed; and the specimen in the British
Museum evidently has the aspect of a domestic variety.
The last species to be mentioned, namely, Gallus bankiva, has a much wider
geographical range than the three previous species; it inhabits Northern
India as far west as Sinde, and ascends the Himalaya to a height of 4000
ft.; it inhabits Burmah, the Malay peninsula, the Indo-Chinese countries,
the Philippine Islands, and the Malayan archipelago as far eastward as
Timor. This species varies considerably in the wild state. Mr. Blyth
informs me that the specimens, both male and female, brought from near the
Himalaya, are rather paler coloured than those from other parts of India;
whilst those from the Malay peninsula and Java are brighter coloured than
the Indian birds. I have seen specimens from these countries, and the
difference of tint in the hackles was conspicuous. The Malayan hens were a
shade redder on the breast and neck than the Indian hens. The Malayan males
generally had a red ear-lappet, instead of a white one as in India; but Mr.
Blyth has seen one Indian specimen without the white ear-lappet. The legs
are leaden blue in the Indian, whereas they show some tendency to be
yellowish in the Malayan and Javan specimens. In the former Mr. Blyth finds
the tarsus remarkably variable in length. According to Temminck (7/20.
'Coup-d'oeil general sur l'Inde Archipelagique' tome 3 1849 page 177; see
also Mr. Blyth in 'Indian Sporting Review' volume 2 page 5 1856.) the Timor
specimens differ as a local race from that of Java. These several wild
varieties have not as yet been ranked as distinct species; if they should,
as is not unlikely, be hereafter thus ranked, the circumstance would be
quite immaterial as far as the parentage and differences of our domestic
breeds are concerned. The wild G. bankiva agrees most closely with the
black-breasted red Game-breed, in colouring and in all other respects,
except in being smaller, and in the tail being carried more horizontally.
But the manner in which the tail is carried is highly variable in many of
our breeds, for, as Mr. Brent informs me, the tail slopes much in the
Malays, is erect in the Games and some other breeds, and is more than erect
in Dorkings, Bantams, etc. There is one other difference namely, that in G.
bankiva, according to Mr. Blyth, the neck-hackles when first moulted are
replaced during two or three months not by other hackles, as with our
domestic poultry, but by short blackish feathers. (7/21. Mr. Blyth 'Annals
and Mag. of Nat. Hist.' 2nd series volume 1 1848 page 455.) Mr. Brent,
however, has remarked that these black feathers remain in the wild bird
after the development of the lower hackles, and appear in the domestic bird
at the same time with them: so that the only difference is that the lower
hackles are replaced more slowly in the wild than in the tame bird; but as
confinement is known sometimes to affect the masculine plumage, this slight
difference cannot be considered of any importance. It is a significant fact
that the voice of both the male and female G. bankiva closely resembles, as
Mr. Blyth and others have noted, the voice of both sexes of the common
domestic fowl; but the last note of the crow of the wild bird is rather
less prolonged. Captain Hutton, well known for his researches into the
natural history of India, informs me that he has seen several crossed fowls
from the wild species and the Chinese bantam; these crossed fowls BRED
FREELY with bantams, but unfortunately were not crossed inter se. Captain
Hutton reared chickens from the eggs of the Gallus bankiva; and these,
though at first very wild, afterwards became so tame that they would crowd
round his feet. He did not succeed in rearing them to maturity; but as he
remarks, "no wild gallinaceous bird thrives well at first on hard grain."
Mr. Blyth also found much difficulty in keeping G. bankiva in confinement.
In the Philippine Islands, however, the natives must succeed better, as
they keep wild cocks to fight with their domestic game-birds. (7/22.
Crawfurd 'Desc. Dict. of Indian Islands' 1856 page 112.) Sir Walter Elliot
informs me that the hen of a native domestic breed of Pegu is
undistinguishable from the hen of the wild G. bankiva; and the natives
constantly catch wild cocks by taking tame cocks to fight with them in the
woods. (7/23. In Burmah, as I hear from Mr. Blyth, the wild and tame
poultry constantly cross together, and irregular transitional forms may be
seen.) Mr. Crawfurd remarks that from etymology it might be argued that the
fowl was first domesticated by the Malays and Javanese. (7/24. Ibid page
113.) It is also a curious fact, of which I have been assured by Mr. Blyth,
that wild specimens of the Gallus bankiva, brought from the countries east
of the Bay of Bengal, are far more easily tamed than those of India; nor is
this an unparalleled fact, for, as Humboldt long ago remarked, the same
species sometimes evinces a more tameable disposition in one country than
in another. If we suppose that the G. bankiva was first tamed in Malaya and
afterwards imported into India, we can understand an observation made to me
by Mr. Blyth, that the domestic fowls of India do not resemble the wild G.
bankiva of India more closely than do those of Europe.]
From the extremely close resemblance in colour, general structure, and
especially in voice, between Gallus bankiva and the Game fowl; from their
fertility, as far as this has been ascertained, when crossed; from the
possibility of the wild species being tamed, and from its varying in the
wild state, we may confidently look at it as the parent of the most typical
of all the domestic breeds, namely, the Game fowl. It is a significant
fact, that almost all the naturalists in India, namely Sir W. Elliot, Mr.
S.N. Ward, Mr. Layard, Mr. J.C. Jerdon, and Mr. Blyth (7/25. Mr. Jerdon in
the 'Madras Journ. of Lit. and Science' volume 22 page 2 speaking of G.
bankiva says "unquestionably the origin of most of the varieties of our
common fowls." For Mr. Blyth see his excellent article in 'Gardener's
Chronicle' 1851 page 619; and in 'Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.' volume 20
1847 page 388.), who are familiar with G. bankiva, believe that it is the
parent of most or all our domestic breeds. But even if it be admitted that
G. bankiva is the parent of the Game breed, yet it may be urged that other
wild species have been the parents of the other domestic breeds; and that
these species still exist, though unknown, in some country, or have become
extinct. The extinction, however, of several species of fowls, is an
improbable hypothesis, seeing that the four known species have not become
extinct in the most ancient and thickly peopled regions of the East. There
is, in fact, not one other kind of domesticated bird, of which the wild
parent-form is unknown, that is become extinct. For the discovery of new,
or the rediscovery of old species of Gallus, we must not look, as fanciers
often look, to the whole world. The larger gallinaceous birds, as Mr. Blyth
has remarked (7/26. 'Gardener's Chronicle' 1851 page 619.), generally have
a restricted range: we see this well illustrated in India, where the genus
Gallus inhabits the base of the Himalaya, and is succeeded higher up by
Gallophasis, and still higher up by Phasianus. Australia, with its islands,
is out of the question as the home for unknown species of the genus. It is,
also, as improbable that Gallus should inhabit South America (7/27. I have
consulted an eminent authority, Mr. Sclater, on this subject, and he thinks
that I have not expressed myself too strongly. I am aware that one ancient
author, Acosta, speaks of fowls as having inhabited S. America at the
period of its discovery; and more recently, about 1795, Olivier de Serres
speaks of wild fowls in the forests of Guiana; these were probably feral
birds. Dr. Daniell tells me, he believes that fowls have become wild on the
west coast of Equatorial Africa; they may, however, not be true fowls, but
gallinaceous birds belonging to the genus Phasidus. The old voyager Barbut
says that poultry are not natural to Guinea. Capt. W. Allen ('Narrative of
Niger Expedition' 1848 volume 2 page 42) describes wild fowls on Ilha dos
Rollas, an island near St. Thomas's on the west coast of Africa; the
natives informed him that they had escaped from a vessel wrecked there many
years ago; they were extremely wild and had "a cry quite different to that
of the domestic fowl," and their appearance was somewhat changed. Hence it
is not a little doubtful, notwithstanding the statement of the natives,
whether these birds really were fowls. That the fowl has become feral on
several islands is certain. Mr. Fry, a very capable judge, informed Mr.
Layard, in a letter, that the fowls which have run wild on Ascension "had
nearly all got back to their primitive colours, red, and black cocks, and
smoky-grey hens." But unfortunately we do not know the colour of the
poultry which were turned out. Fowls have become feral on the Nicobar
Islands (Blyth in the 'Indian Field' 1858 page 62), and in the Ladrones
(Anson's Voyage). Those found in the Pellew Islands Crawfurd) are believed
to be feral; and lastly, it is asserted that they have become feral in New
Zealand, but whether this is correct I know not.) as that a humming-bird
should be found in the Old World. From the character of the other
gallinaceous birds of Africa, it is not probable that Gallus is an African
genus. We need not look to the western parts of Asia, for Messrs. Blyth and
Crawfurd, who have attended to this subject, doubt whether Gallus ever
existed in a wild state even as far west as Persia. Although the earliest
Greek writers speak of the fowl as a Persian bird, this probably merely
indicates its line of importation. For the discovery of unknown species we
must look to India, to the Indo-Chinese countries, and to the northern
parts of the Malay Archipelago. The southern portion of China is the most
likely country; but as Mr. Blyth informs me, skins have been exported from
China during a long period, and living birds are largely kept there in
aviaries, so that any native species of Gallus would probably have become
known. Mr. Birch, of the British Museum, has translated for me passages
from a Chinese Encyclopaedia published in 1609, but compiled from more
ancient documents, in which it is said that fowls are creatures of the
West, and were introduced into the East (i.e. China) in a dynasty 1400 B.C.
Whatever may be thought of so ancient a date, we see that the Indo-Chinese
and Indian regions were formerly considered by the Chinese as the source of
the domestic fowl. From these several considerations we must look to the
present metropolis of the genus, namely, to the south-eastern parts of
Asia, for the discovery of species which were formerly domesticated, but
are now unknown in the wild state; and the most experienced ornithologists
do not consider it probable that such species will be discovered.
In considering whether the domestic breeds are descended from one species,
namely, G. bankiva, or from several, we must not quite overlook, though we
must not exaggerate, the importance of the test of fertility. Most of our
domestic breeds have been so often crossed, and their mongrels so largely
kept, that it is almost certain, if any degree of infertility had existed
between them, it would have been detected. On the other hand, the four
known species of Gallus when crossed with each other, or when crossed, with
the exception of G. bankiva, with the domestic fowl, produce infertile
hybrids.
Finally, we have not such good evidence with fowls as with pigeons, of all
the breeds having descended from a single primitive stock. In both cases
the argument of fertility must go for something; in both we have the
improbability of man having succeeded in ancient times in thoroughly
domesticating several supposed species,--most of these supposed species
being extremely abnormal as compared with their natural allies,--all being
now either unknown or extinct, though the parent-form of no other
domesticated bird has been lost. But in searching for the supposed parent-
stocks of the various breeds of the pigeon, we were enabled to confine our
search to species having peculiar habits of life; whilst with fowls there
is nothing in their habits in any marked manner distinct from those of
other gallinaceous birds. In the case of pigeons, I have shown that purely-
bred birds of every race and the crossed offspring of distinct races
frequently resemble, or revert to, the wild rock-pigeon in general colour
and in each characteristic mark. With fowls we have facts of a similar
nature, but less strongly pronounced, which we will now discuss.
REVERSION AND ANALOGOUS VARIATION.
Purely-bred Game, Malay, Cochin, Dorking, Bantam, and, as I hear from Mr.
Tegetmeier, Silk fowls, may frequently or occasionally be met with, which
are almost identical in plumage with the wild G. bankiva. This is a fact
well deserving attention, when we reflect that these breeds rank amongst
the most distinct. Fowls thus coloured are called by amateurs black-
breasted reds. Hamburghs properly have a very different plumage;
nevertheless, as Mr. Tegetmeier informs me, "the great difficulty in
breeding cocks of the golden-spangled variety is their tendency to have
black breasts and red backs. The males of white Bantams and white Cochins,
as they come to maturity, often assume a yellowish or saffron tinge; and
the longer neck hackles of black Bantam cocks" (7/28. Mr. Hewitt in 'The
Poultry Book' by W.B. Tegetmeier 1866 page 248.), when two or three years
old, not uncommonly become ruddy; these latter Bantams occasionally "even
moult brassy-winged, or actually red-shouldered." So that in these several
cases we see a plain tendency to reversion to the hues of G. bankiva, even
during the lifetime of the individual bird. With Spanish, Polish, pencilled
Hamburgh, silver-spangled Hamburgh fowls, and with some other less common
breeds, I have never heard of a black-breasted red bird having appeared.
From my experience with pigeons, I made the following crosses. I first
killed all my own poultry, no others living near my house, and then
procured, by Mr. Tegetmeier's assistance, a first-rate black Spanish cock,
and hens of the following pure breeds,--white Game, white Cochin, silver-
spangled Polish, silver-spangled Hamburgh, silver-pencilled Hamburgh, and
white Silk. In none of these breeds is there a trace of red, nor when kept
pure have I ever heard of the appearance of a red feather; though such an
occurrence would perhaps not be very improbable with white Games and white
Cochins. Of the many chickens reared from the above six crosses the
majority were black, both in the down and in the first plumage; some were
white, and a very few were mottled black and white. In one lot of eleven
mixed eggs from the white Game and white Cochin by the black Spanish cock,
seven of the chickens were white, and only four black. I mention this fact
to show that whiteness of plumage is strongly inherited, and that the
belief in the prepotent power in the male to transmit his colour is not
always correct. The chickens were hatched in the spring, and in the latter
part of August several of the young cocks began to exhibit a change, which
with some of them increased during the following years. Thus a young male
bird from the silver-spangled Polish hen was in its first plumage coal-
black, and combined in its comb, crest, wattle, and beard, the characters
of both parents; but when two years old the secondary wing-feathers became
largely and symmetrically marked with white, and, wherever in G. bankiva
the hackles are red, they were in this bird greenish-black along the shaft,
narrowly bordered with brownish-black, and this again broadly bordered with
very pale yellowish-brown; so that in general appearance the plumage had
become pale-coloured instead of black. In this case, with advancing age
there was a great change, but no reversion to the red colour of G. bankiva.
A cock with a regular rose comb derived either from the spangled or
pencilled silver Hamburgh was likewise at first quite black; but in less
than a year the neck-hackles, as in the last case, became whitish, whilst
those on the loins assumed a decided reddish-yellow tint; and here we see
the first symptom of reversion; this likewise occurred with some other
young cocks, which need not here be described. It has also been recorded
(7/29. 'Journal of Horticulture' January 14, 1862 page 325.) by a breeder,
that he crossed two silver-pencilled Hamburgh hens with a Spanish cock, and
reared a number of chickens, all of which were black, the cocks having
GOLDEN and the hens brownish hackles; so that in this instance likewise
there was a clear tendency to reversion.
Two young cocks from my white Game hen were at first snow white; of these,
one subsequently assumed male orange-coloured hackles, chiefly on the
loins, and the other an abundance of fine orange-red hackles on the neck,
loins, and upper wing-coverts. Here again we have a more decided, though
partial, reversion to the colours of G. bankiva. This second cock was in
fact coloured like an inferior "pile Came cock;"--now this sub-breed can be
produced, as I am informed by Mr. Tegetmeier, by crossing a black-breasted
red Game cock with a white Game hen, and the "pile" sub-breed thus produced
can afterwards be truly propagated. So that we have the curious fact of the
glossy-black Spanish cock and the black-breasted red Game cock when crossed
with white Game hens producing offspring of nearly the same colours.
I reared several birds from the white Silk hen by the Spanish cock: all
were coal-black, and all plainly showed their parentage in having blackish
combs and bones; none inherited the so-called silky feathers, and the non-
inheritance of this character has been observed by others. The hens never
varied in their plumage. As the young cocks grew old, one of them assumed
yellowish-white hackles, and thus resembled in a considerable degree the
cross from the Hamburgh hen; the other became a gorgeous bird, so much so
that an acquaintance had it preserved and stuffed simply from its beauty.
When stalking about it closely resembled the wild Gallus bankiva, but with
the red feathers rather darker. On close comparison one considerable
difference presented itself, namely, that the primary and secondary wing-
feathers were edged with greenish-black, instead of being edged, as in G.
bankiva, with fulvous and red tints. The space, also, across the back,
which bears dark-green feathers, was broader, and the comb was blackish. In
all other respects, even in trifling details of plumage, there was the
closest accordance. Altogether it was a marvellous sight to compare this
bird first with G. bankiva, and then with its father, the glossy green-
black Spanish cock, and with its diminutive mother, the white Silk hen.
This case of reversion is the more extraordinary as the Spanish breed has
long been known to breed true, and no instance is on record of its throwing
a single red feather. The Silk hen likewise breeds true, and is believed to
be ancient, for Aldrovandi, before 1600, alludes probably to this breed,
and described it as covered with wool. It is so peculiar in many characters
that some writers have considered it as specifically distinct; yet, as we
now see, when crossed with the Spanish fowl, it yields offspring closely
resembling the wild G. bankiva.
Mr. Tegetmeier has been so kind as to repeat, at my request, the cross
between a Spanish cock and Silk hen, and he obtained similar results; for
he thus raised, besides a black hen, seven cocks, all of which were dark-
bodied with more or less orange-red hackles. In the ensuing year he paired
the black hen with one of her brothers, and raised three young cocks, all
coloured like their father, and a black hen mottled with white.
The hens from the six above-described crosses showed hardly any tendency to
revert to the mottled-brown plumage of the female G. bankiva: one hen,
however, from the white Cochin, which was at first coal-black, became
slightly brown or sooty. Several hens, which were for a long time snow-
white, acquired as they grew old a few black feathers. A hen from the white
Game, which was for a long time entirely black glossed with green, when two
years old had some of the primary wing feathers greyish-white, and a
multitude of feathers over her body narrowly and symmetrically tipped or
laced with white. I had expected that some of the chickens whilst covered
with down would have assumed the longitudinal stripes so general with
gallinaceous birds; but this did not occur in a single instance. Two or
three alone were reddish-brown about their heads. I was unfortunate in
losing nearly all the white chickens from the first crosses; so that black
prevailed with the grandchildren; but they were much diversified in colour,
some being sooty, others mottled, and one blackish chicken had its feathers
oddly tipped and barred with brown.
I will here add a few miscellaneous facts connected with reversion, and
with the law of analogous variation. This law implies, as stated in a
previous chapter, that the varieties of one species frequently mock
distinct but allied species; and this fact is explained, according to the
views which I maintain, on the principle of allied species having descended
from one primitive form. The white Silk fowl with black skin and bones
degenerates, as has been observed by Mr. Hewitt and Mr. R. Orton, in our
climate; that is, it reverts to the ordinary colour of the common fowl in
its skin and bones, due care having been taken to prevent any cross. In
Germany (7/30. 'Die Huhner- und Pfauenzucht' Ulm 1827 s. 17. For Mr.
Hewitt's statement with respect to the white Silk fowl see the 'Poultry
Book' by W.B. Tegetmeier 1866 page 222. I am indebted to Mr. Orton for a
letter on the same subject.) a distinct breed with black bones, and with
black, not silky plumage, has likewise been observed to degenerate.
Mr. Tegetmeier informs me that, when distinct breeds are crossed, fowls are
frequently produced with their feathers marked or pencilled by narrow
transverse lines of a darker colour. This may be in part explained by
direct reversion to the parent-form, the Bankiva hen; for this bird has all
its upper plumage finely mottled with dark and rufous brown, with the
mottling partially and obscurely arranged in transverse lines. But the
tendency to pencilling is probably much strengthened by the law of
analogous variation, for the hens of some other species of Gallus are more
plainly pencilled, and the hens of many gallinaceous birds belonging to
other genera, as the partridge, have pencilled feathers. Mr. Tegetmeier has
also remarked to me that, although with domestic pigeons we have so great a
diversity of colouring, we never see either pencilled or spangled feathers;
and this fact is intelligible on the law of analogous variation, as neither
the wild rock pigeon nor any closely allied species has such feathers. The
frequent appearance of pencilling in crossed birds probably accounts for
the existence of "cuckoo" sub-breeds in the Game, Polish, Dorking, Cochin,
Andalusian, and Bantam breeds. The plumage of these birds is slaty-blue or
grey, with each feather transversely barred with darker lines, so as to
resemble in some degree the plumage of the cuckoo. It is a singular fact,
considering that the male of no species of Gallus is in the least barred,
that the cuckoo-like plumage has often been transferred to the male, more
especially in the cuckoo Dorking; and the fact is all the more singular, as
in gold- and silver-pencilled Hamburghs, in which pencilling is
characteristic of the breed, the male is hardly at all pencilled, this kind
of plumage being confined to the female.
Another case of analogous variation is the occurrence of spangled sub-
breeds of Hamburgh, Polish, Malay, and Bantam fowls. Spangled feathers have
a dark mark, properly crescent-shaped, on their tips; whilst pencilled
feathers have several transverse bars. The spangling cannot be due to
reversion to G. bankiva; nor does it often follow, as I hear from Mr.
Tegetmeier, from crossing distinct breeds; but it is a case of analogous
variation, for many gallinaceous birds have spangled feathers,--for
instance, the common pheasant. Hence spangled breeds are often called
"pheasant"-fowls. Another case of analogous variation in several domestic
breeds is inexplicable; it is, that the chickens, whilst covered with down,
of the black Spanish, black Game, black Polish, and black Bantam, all have
white throats and breasts, and often have some white on their wings. (7/31.
Dixon 'Ornamental and Domestic Poultry' pages 253, 324, 335. For game fowls
see Ferguson on 'Prize Poultry' page 260.) The editor of the 'Poultry
Chronicle' (7/32. 'Poultry Chronicle' volume 2 71.) remarks that all the
breeds which properly have red ear-lappets occasionally produce birds with
white ear-Tappets. This remark more especially applies to the Game breed,
which of all comes nearest to the G. bankiva; and we have seen that with
this species living in a state of nature, the ear-lappets vary in colour,
being red in the Malayan countries, and generally, but not invariably,
white in India.
In concluding this part of my subject, I may repeat that there exists one
widely-ranging, varying, and common species of Gallus, namely, G. bankiva,
which can be tamed, produces fertile offspring when crossed with common
fowls, and closely resembles in its whole structure, plumage, and voice the
Game breed; hence it may be safely ranked as the parent of this, the most
typical domesticated breed. We have seen that there is much difficulty in
believing that other, now unknown, species have been the parents of the
other domestic breeds. We know that all the breeds are most closely allied,
as shown by their similarity in most points of structure and in habits, and
by the analogous manner in which they vary. We have also seen that several
of the most distinct breeds occasionally or habitually closely resemble in
plumage G. bankiva, and that the crossed offspring of other breeds, which
are not thus coloured, show a stronger or weaker tendency to revert to this
same plumage. Some of the breeds, which appear the most distinct and the
least likely to have proceeded from G. bankiva, such as Polish fowls, with
their protuberant and little ossified skulls, and Cochins, with their
imperfect tail and small wings, bear in these characters the plain marks of
their artificial origin. We know well that of late years methodical
selection has greatly improved and fixed many characters; and we have every
reason to believe that unconscious selection, carried on for many
generations, will have steadily augmented each new peculiarity, and thus
have given rise to new breeds. As soon as two or three breeds were once
formed, crossing would come into play in changing their character and in
increasing their number. Brahma Pootras, according to an account lately
published in America, offer a good instance of a breed, lately formed by a
cross, which can be truly propagated. The well-known Sebright Bantams offer
another and similar instance. Hence it may be concluded that not only the
Game-breed but that all our breeds are probably the descendants of the
Malayan or Indian variety of G. bankiva. If so, this species has varied
greatly since it was first domesticated; but there has been ample time, as
we shall now show.
HISTORY OF THE FOWL.
Rutimeyer found no remains of the fowl in the ancient Swiss lake-dwellings;
but, according to Jeitteles (7/33. 'Die vorgeschichtlichen Alterthumer' II.
Theil 1872 page 5. Dr. Pickering in his 'Races of Man' 1850 page 374 says
that the head and neck of a fowl is carried in a Tribute-procession to
Thoutmousis III. (1445 B.C.); but Mr. Birch of the British Museum doubts
whether the figure can be identified as the head of a fowl. Some caution is
necessary with reference to the absence of figures of the fowl on the
ancient Egyptian monuments, on account of the strong and widely prevalent
prejudice against this bird. I am informed by the Rev. S. Erhardt that on
the east coast of Africa, from 4 to 6 deg south of the equator, most of the
pagan tribes at the present day hold the fowl in aversion. The natives of
the Pellew Islands would not eat the fowl nor will the Indians in some
parts of S. America. For the ancient history of the fowl see also Volz
'Beitrage zur Culturgeschichte' 1852 s. 77; and Isid. Geoffroy St.-Hilaire
'Hist. Nat. Gen.' tome 3 page 61. Mr. Crawfurd has given an admirable
history of the fowl in his paper 'On the Relation of Domesticated Animals
to Civilisation' read before the Brit. Assoc. at Oxford in 1860 and since
printed separately. I quote from him on the Greek poet Theognis, and on the
Harpy Tomb described by Sir C. Fellowes. I quote from a letter of Mr.
Blyth's with respect to the Institutes of Manu.), such have certainly since
been found associated with extinct animals and prehistoric remains. It is,
therefore a strange fact that the fowl is not mentioned in the Old
Testament, nor figured on the ancient Egyptian monuments. It is not
referred to by Homer or Hesiod (about 900 B.C.); but is mentioned by
Theognis and Aristophanes between 400 and 500 B.C. It is figured on some of
the Babylonian cylinders, between the sixth and seventh centuries B.C., of
which Mr. Layard sent me an impression; and on the Harpy Tomb in Lycia,
about 600 B.C.: so that the fowl apparently reached Europe in a
domesticated condition somewhere about the sixth century B.C. It had
travelled still farther westward by the time of the Christian era, for it
was found in Britain by Julius Caesar. In India it must have been
domesticated when the Institutes of Manu were written, that is, according
to Sir W. Jones, 1200 B.C., but, according to the later authority of Mr. H.
Wilson, only 800 B.C., for the domestic fowl is forbidden, whilst the wild
is permitted to be eaten. If, as before remarked, we may trust the old
Chinese Encyclopaedia, the fowl must have been domesticated several
centuries earlier, as it is said to have been introduced from the West into
China 1400 B.C.
Sufficient materials do not exist for tracing the history of the separate
breeds. About the commencement of the Christian era, Columella mentions a
five-toed fighting breed, and some provincial breeds; but we know nothing
about them. He also alludes to dwarf fowls; but these cannot have been the
same with our Bantams, which, as Mr. Crawfurd has shown, were imported from
Japan into Bantam in Java. A dwarf fowl, probably the true Bantam, is
referred to in an old Japanese Encyclopaedia, as I am informed by Mr.
Birch. In the Chinese Encyclopaedia published in 1596, but compiled from
various sources, some of high antiquity, seven breeds are mentioned,
including what we should now call Jumpers or Creepers, and likewise fowls
with black feathers, bones, and flesh. In 1600 Aldrovandi describes seven
or eight breeds of fowls, and this is the most ancient record from which
the age of our European breeds can be inferred. The Gallus turcicus
certainly seems to be a pencilled Hamburgh; but Mr. Brent, a most capable
judge, thinks that Aldrovandi "evidently figured what he happened to see,
and not the best of the breed." Mr. Brent, indeed, considers all
Aldrovandi's fowls as of impure breed; but it is a far more probable view
that all our breeds have been much improved and modified since his time;
for, as he went to the expense of so many figures, he probably would have
secured characteristic specimens. The Silk fowl, however, probably then
existed in its present state, as did almost certainly the fowl with
frizzled or reversed feathers. Mr. Dixon (7/34. 'Ornamental and Domestic
Poultry' 1847 page 185; for passages translated from Columella see page
312. For Golden Hamburghs see Albin 'Natural History of Birds' 3 volumes
with plates 1731-38.) considers Aldrovandi's Paduan fowl as "a variety of
the Polish," whereas Mr. Brent believes it to have been more nearly allied
to the Malay. The anatomical peculiarities of the skull of the Polish breed
were noticed by P. Borelli in 1656. I may add that in 1737 one Polish sub-
breed, viz., the Golden-spangled, was known; but judging from Albin's
description, the comb was then larger, the crest of feathers much smaller,
the breast more coarsely spotted, and the stomach and thighs much blacker:
a Golden-spangled Polish fowl in this condition would now be of no value.
DIFFERENCES IN EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL STRUCTURE BETWEEN THE BREEDS:
INDIVIDUAL VARIABILITY.
Fowls have been exposed to diversified conditions of life, and as we have
just seen there has been ample time for much variability and for the slow
action of unconscious selection. As there are good grounds for believing
that all the breeds are descended from Gallus bankiva, it will be worth
while to describe in some detail the chief points of difference. Beginning
with the eggs and chickens, I will pass on to their secondary sexual
characters, and then to their differences in external structure and in the
skeleton. I enter on the following details chiefly to show how variable
almost every character has become under domestication.
[EGGS.
Mr. Dixon remarks (7/35. 'Ornamental and Domestic Poultry' page 152.) that
"to every hen belongs an individual peculiarity in the form, colour, and
size of her egg, which never changes during her life-time, so long as she
remains in health, and which is as well known to those who are in the habit
of taking her produce, as the hand-writing of their nearest acquaintance."
I believe that this is generally true, and that, if no great number of hens
be kept, the eggs of each can almost always be recognised. The eggs of
differently sized breeds naturally differ much in size; but apparently, not
always in strict relation to the size of the hen: thus the Malay is a
larger bird than the Spanish, but GENERALLY she produces not such large
eggs; white Bantams are said to lay smaller eggs than other Bantams (7/36.
Ferguson on 'Rare Prize Poultry' page 297. This writer, I am informed,
cannot generally be trusted. He gives, however, figures and much
information on eggs. See pages 34 and 235 on the eggs of the Game fowl.);
white Cochins, on the other hand, as I hear from Mr. Tegetmeier, certainly
lay larger eggs than buff Cochins. The eggs, however, of the different
breeds vary considerably in character; for instance, Mr. Ballance states
(7/37. See 'Poultry Book' by Mr. Tegetmeier 1866 pages 81 and 78.) that his
Malay "pullets of last year laid eggs equal in size to those of any duck,
and other Malay hens, two or three years old, laid eggs very little larger
than a good sized Bantam's egg. Some were as white as a Spanish hen's egg,
and others varied from a light cream-colour to a deep rich buff, or even to
a brown." The shape also varies, the two ends being much more equally
rounded in Cochins than in Games or Polish. Spanish fowls lay smoother eggs
than Cochins, of which the eggs are generally granulated. The shell in this
latter breed, and more especially in Malays is apt to be thicker than in
Games or Spanish; but the Minorcas, a sub-breed of Spanish, are said to lay
harder eggs than true Spanish. (7/38. 'The Cottage Gardener' October 1855
page 13. On the thinness of the eggs of Game-fowls see Mowbray on 'Poultry'
7th edition page 13.) The colour differs considerably,--the Cochins laying
buff-coloured eggs; the Malays a paler variable buff; and Games a still
paler buff. It would appear that darker-coloured eggs characterise the
breeds which have lately come from the East, or are still closely allied to
those now living there. The colour of the yolk, according to Ferguson, as
well as of the shell, differs slightly in the sub-breeds of the Game. I am
also informed by Mr. Brent that dark partridge-coloured Cochin hens lay
darker coloured eggs than the other Cochin sub-breeds. The flavour and
richness of the egg certainly differ in different breeds. The
productiveness of the several breeds is very different. Spanish, Polish,
and Hamburgh hens have lost the incubating instinct.
CHICKENS.
As the young of almost all gallinaceous birds, even of the black curassow
and black grouse, whilst covered with down, are longitudinally striped on
the back,--of which character, when adult, neither sex retains a trace,--it
might have been expected that the chickens of all our domestic fowls would
have been similarly striped. (7/39. My information, which is very far from
perfect, on chickens in the down, is derived chiefly from Mr. Dixon's
'Ornamental and Domestic Poultry.' Mr. B.P. Brent has also communicated to
me many facts by letter, as has Mr. Tegetmeier. I will in each case mark my
authority by the name within brackets. For the chickens of white Silk fowls
see Tegetmeier 'Poultry Book' 1866 page 221.) This could, however, hardly
have been expected, when the adult plumage in both sexes has undergone so
great a change as to be wholly white or black. In white fowls of various
breeds the chickens are uniformly yellowish white, passing in the black-
boned Silk fowl into bright canary-yellow. This is also generally the case
with the chickens of white Cochins, but I hear from Mr. Zurhost that they
are sometimes of a buff or oak colour, and that all those of this latter
colour, which were watched, turned out males. The chickens of buff Cochins
are of a golden-yellow, easily distinguishable from the paler tint of the
white Cochins, and are often longitudinally streaked with dark shades: the
chickens of silver-cinnamon Cochins are almost always of a buff colour. The
chickens of the white Game and white Dorking breeds, when held in
particular lights, sometimes exhibit (on the authority of Mr. Brent) faint
traces of longitudinal stripes. Fowls which are entirely black, namely,
Spanish, black Game, black Polish, and black Bantams, display a new
character, for their chickens have their breasts and throats more or less
white, with sometimes a little white elsewhere. Spanish chickens also,
occasionally (Brent), have, where the down was white, their first true
feathers tipped for a time with white. The primordially striped character
is retained by the chickens of most of the Game sub-breeds (Brent, Dixon);
by Dorkings; by the partridge and grouse-coloured sub-breeds of Cochins
(Brent), but not, as we have seen, by the sub-breeds; by the pheasant-Malay
(Dixon), but apparently not (at which I am much surprised) by other Malays.
The following breeds and sub-breeds are barely, or not at all,
longitudinally striped: viz., gold and silver pencilled Hamburghs, which
can hardly be distinguished from each other (Brent) in the down, both
having a few dark spots on the head and rump, with occasionally a
longitudinal stripe (Dixon) on the back of the neck. I have seen only one
chicken of the silver-spangled Hamburgh, and this was obscurely striped
along the back. Gold-spangled Polish chickens (Tegetmeier) are of a warm
russet brown; and silver-spangled Polish chickens are grey, sometimes
(Dixon) with dashes of ochre on the head, wings, and breast. Cuckoo and
blue-dun fowls (Dixon) are grey in the down. The chickens of Sebright
Bantams (Dixon) are uniformly dark brown, whilst those of the brown-
breasted red Game Bantam are black, with some white on the throat and
breast. From these facts we see that young chickens of the different
breeds, and even of the same main breed, differ much in their downy
plumage; and, although longitudinal stripes characterise the young of all
wild gallinaceous birds, they disappear in several domestic breeds. Perhaps
it may be accepted as a general rule that the more the adult plumage
differs from that of the adult G. bankiva, the more completely the chickens
have lost their stripes.]