or the domesticated breeds and the other three forms of wild
Galli, but it is probable that this want of fertility was due in
great part to the unnatural conditions under which the parent
and offspring were placed, as, if bred under more natural conditions,
there is no difficulty in rearing these hybrids or in breeding
from them with the domesticated varieties.
Breeds.—The number of poultry exhibitions has nowadays multiplied to such an extent that as many as twenty shows have been criticized in print in one week in Great Britain. Competition has increased the money value of prize fowls and created a large class+almost a profession-who have considerable pecuniary interests embarked in breeding and exhibiting such birds. This professionalism, and the interests at stake, have in turn naturally given rise to many proceedings of doubtful character, which it has been found needful to keep in check by an organization known as the Poultry Club. An enormous multiplication of varieties is another phase of this development, nearly all breeds having had their older subdivisions supplemented by new colours, produced through crossing and skilful selection, amidst which buff or orange, now bred in nearly all fowls, has had a curious popularity. While formerly the diminutive bantams were confined to a few well marked varieties, all the large breeds of poultry have now been dwarfed into bantam size by the skill of breeders. To enter farther into this branch of the subject is beyond the scope of the present article, but it may be interesting to state that at a public auction in 1901 one prize fowl was sold for £150.
Game Fowls.—Game fowls differ less from the wild Bankiva than any other variety; they are, however, considerably larger, and carry the tail more erect than the wild birds, Game fowls in England were long cultivated not only as useful poultry, but on account of their combative tendencies for the cock-pit. The comb in the game is single, the beak massive, the spurs strong and very sharp. There is a tendency towards the assumption of the female plumage by the males, and distinct breeds of “henny” game are known. Game are highly esteemed for the table on account of their plumpness, the amount of the breast-meat, owing to the size of the pectoral muscles, being very great, from which cause, combined with their hardihood, they are most valuable for crossing with other breeds, as the Dorking. English-bred game have been reared of many varieties of colour, retaining in all cases their distinctive peculiarities of form. Game fowls have been reduced in size b selective breeding, and exceedingly minute game bantams have been produced with the distinguishing characters of the larger breed. But the long-legged and long-necked “stilty” game fowls, which resulted at one time from breeding for exhibition purposes, have been again superseded in favour of the old and genuine type.
Cochins.—This type, which must be regarded as including not only the birds generally so-called but also the Brahmas and Langshans, is of very large size, some of the males reaching the great weight of 16 or 17 ℔. They are distinguished by a profusion of downy plumage, with small wings and tails; they are incapable of long flight, and the pectoral muscles are consequently but feebly developed. The Cochins originally imported from Shanghai were of several colours; some of the grey birds in America were crossed with the grey Chittagong, the Brahmas being the result of the cross, and they became established as a pure breed, faithfully reproducing their own type. The Langshans, a later importation, have fuller breasts and less abundant plumage. The exaggeration of fluff and leg-feather has removed all Cochins—it is to be feared permanently—from amongst popular and useful breeds, and in only less degree the Brahma, once the most popular breed of the day. On the other hand, new sub-breeds, based upon a cross from one or the other of the Asiatic races, have been multiplied and largely bred, these being all of smooth-legged type and somewhat less in size. A sub-variety of Cochin, raised in America, by crossing with a cuckoo coloured breed long known as Dominiques, became fashionable under the name of Plymouth Rocks. They are cuckoo-coloured, viz. each feather is marked with transverse grey stripes ona lighter ground, and, as in all cuckoo-coloured breeds, the cocks are of the same colour as the hens; their legs are not feathered, and the plumage is not so loose as that of the more typical Cochins. To the original cuckoo-coloured Plymouth Rock have been added buff and white varieties; and by crossing Cochins and Brahmas with other fowls, American breeders produced another useful race of compact form with smooth yellow legs, and white feathers laced with black round the edges, called the silver-laced Wyandotte, to which were speedily added other colours and patterns of plumage. The feathered Langshan has given rise to the black Orpington with smooth legs; and a local cross of Cochin and Dorking prevalent in Lincolnshire, to a buff breed with smooth White legs, now called the buff Orpington, though quite unrelated to the former. All these are useful for table, and good layers.
Malayan Fowls.—The Malayan ty has been long recognized as of Eastern origin. The birds are ofxfarge size, close and scant in plumage, with very long legs and necks. The Gallus giganteus .of Temminck, which he regarded erroneously as a distinct species, belonged to this group, as did the Kulm fowl and the grey Chittagong of the United States. The Malays are of savage disposition. Several smaller breeds of a somewhat similar type are known as Indian Game; some of these, as the Aseels, are of indomitable courage. Until the arrival of the so-called Cochin breeds from the north of China, Malays were the largest fowls known in Europe and were employed to impart size to other varieties by crossing.
Spanish.—The Spanish or Mediterranean type is well marked. The birds are of moderate size, with large single erect combs and white ear-lobes. In the black Spanish the whiteness of the ear-lobe extends over the face, and its size has been so greatly developed by cultivation that in some specimens it is 6 or 7 in. in length and several in breadth. Closely related to the Spanish, differing only in colour of plumage and extent of white face and ear-lobe, are the white and brown Leghorns, the slaty-blue Andalusians, the black Minorcas, &c. All are non-incubators, the desire to sit having been lost in the tendency to the increased production of eggs, which has been developed by the persistent and long-continued selection of the most fertile layers. The white-faced black Spanish, once the most widely kept, has almost disappeared; but the allied red-faced Minorca and the blue Andalusian have achieved great popularity as free layers of large white eggs; and the yellow-legged Leghorns of similar type, though rather smaller, have spread on all sides with much multiplication of varieties, the latest of which, with mottled black and white plumage, is termed the Ancona.
Hamburghs.-The Hamburghs, erroneously so called from a name given them in the classification adopted at the early Birmingham shows, are chiefly breeds of English origin. They have double combs and small white ear-lobes. There are various sub-varieties. Those with a dark crescent-like mark on the end of each feather of the hen are termed Spangled Hamburghs. Others are of uniform black plumage. A somewhat similar breed of smaller size, with each feather of the hens marked with transverse bands of black on a white or bay ground, is termed Pencilled Hamburghs; they were formerly known as Dutch Everyday-layers. These breeds are all non sitters and lay a remarkably large number of eggs. Hamburghs in England have been depressed in recent years by the complicated system of breeding separate strains for each sex; but there has been introduced from Europe the hardy Campine or Braekel, resembling the pencilled Hamburgh in plumage, but larger and with a single comb, and laying a large egg in great numbers.
Crested Fowls.—The crested breeds (non-incubating) have long been cultivated on the continent of Europe and are admirably delineated in the pictures by Hondekoeter and other early Dutch artists. In Great Britain they are erroneously termed Polish. The development of the feathered crest is accompanied by a great diminution in the size of the comb, which is sometimes entirely wanting. The wattles also are absent in some breeds, their place being occupied by a large tuft of feathers, forming what is termed the “beard." In all the crested breeds there is a remarkable alteration of the cranium, the anterior part of the skull forming a prominent hollow tuberosity which contains a very large part of the brain. This portion of the brain-case is rarely entirely ossified. There are numerous sub-varieties of crested fowls. The best-known breeds in England are the spangled, with a dark mark at the end of each feather. This mark often assumes a crescent shape, the horns of the crescent sometimes running up each margin of the feather so as to form a black border; feathers so marked are termed “laced” by poultry-fanciers. There are also white Polish and a buff variety. A very distinct sub-variety is the black breed with a white crest on the head and large pendent wattles. A variety with the arrangement of these colours reversed was formerly known, but it has now become extinct. Some of the larger breeds of the west of Europe are closely related to the Polish. The Creve-Coeur is a crested breed of uniform black colour; it is of large size and of great value for the table and for egg-production.
The Houdan is a black and white breed of very similar character. In some breeds the form of the body and structure of bones of the face closely resemble those of the Polish, but there is an absence of the feathered crest, the crescent-shaped comb becoming more largely developed; such are those known as Guelders, Bredas, and La Fleche, the latter being the best French fowl for eating. A small white crested variety, profusely feathered on the legs, was received about 1864 from Turkey; they are known as Sultans. The older French breeds are less kept than formerly, but a race originated in France by crossing Houdans with Dorkings and light Brahmas, and known as the Faverolles, is a tender and quick-growing table fowl, and even in the Houdan district itself is displacing the Houdan, one of its ancestors. The Faverolles have single upright combs, beards and whiskers, slightly feathered legs, and five toes on each foot; and the general colour of the hen is salmon or fawn, with an almost white reast.
Dorkings.—The Dorking type includes fowls that have for many generations been bred for the supply of the London markets. They are all fleshy on the breast and of fine quality. The Dorkings have an extra toe, a monstrosity which leads to disease of the feet. The Surrey and Sussex fowls are four-toed. The coloured Dorkings were i/iieatly increased in size by crossing with an Indian breed of the alay type. The birds of the Dorking type are fair layers and good sitters. They are rather delicate in constitution, and are chiefly bred in the south of England. 'Crossed with the game breed they
furnish a hardy fowl, plumper than the Dorking and larger than the