Ornithological and Other Oddities 



treatment would soon kill an ordinary rooster, 

 fowls being, as a rule, very intolerant of actual 

 caging in a very small space, although they may 

 thrive in confined " runs," with proper attention. 



The hens of the breed are very ordinary in 

 appearance, except that the tail-feathers and tail- 

 coverts are rather longer than usual, recalling 

 those of a short-tailed bantam cock rather than 

 a hen. The hen in the British Museum and two 

 of Mr. Cunningham's birds are much like dark 

 Dorking hens in colour, dark grey on the back, 

 and fawn on the breast, but Mr. Cunningham also 

 has one coloured much like a jungle-fowl hen, of 

 what fanciers call a "partridge" colour in game- 

 fowls. His male birds are " duckwings." 



No doubt the best birds never leave Japan, so 

 that it is not wonderful that in Europe the tails 

 of the cocks do not grow to more than a yard 

 or two, particularly as no special treatment is 

 attempted by most people, the credit of trying 

 this belonging exclusively to Mr. Cunningham. 



In addition to their poultry, two other domestic 

 birds of the Japanese are well known in Europe, 

 and deserve attention. These are little cage- 

 birds of the weaver-finch group ; one is the Java 

 sparrow {Munia oryzivora), the wild type of 

 which, conspicuous in any aviary by its beauti- 

 fully sleek grey plumage, black-and-white head, 



and exquisite rose-pink bill, is nowadays so freely 



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