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JOURNAL OF HOKTIGULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ May 21, 1874. 



a, semicircular and drooping form. The two largest are called 

 the great sickles, the others are called middle and small sickles. 



There are different groups of feathers, of which the following 

 is a description : — 



Topknot or Crest. — A considerable tuft of feathers either 

 pointed or rounded, either straight or drooping, placed on the 



top of the skull, and difiering in an-angement according to the 

 breed. 



HiLf Topknot. — Composed of the same kind of feathers, but 

 less than the full topknot. 



Tuft.— A little tuft of short feathers, firm, straight, or a little 

 drooping, occupying the same place. 



Fig. 6. 



Fig. 7. 



Fig. 8. 



Whiskers. — Tofts of small feathers pointed or rounded, 

 generally turned up, which surround the cheek. 



Cravat or Crop. — Tuft of feathers more or less long and 

 drooping, which commences beneath the beak and descends 

 more or less the length of the neck. 



Collar. — A tuft of feathers turned up, encircling the vheeks 

 and re-uniting underneath the beak. 



A variety of colours and patterns belong to each race, and are 

 increased by combinations in crossings. However, with patience 

 we may easily have an idea of the plumage of each variety, by 

 examining separately a feather from each part of the body. We 

 never find, it is true, a feather identically similar in its details 

 to that which has been taken as a model, forasmuch as Nature 

 never makes two objects exactly alike, but we may find in 



Fig. 9. 



feathers of the same part an analogy which constitutes on the 

 whole a regularity, a pleasing conformity. We shall give in its 

 proper place a drawing of the feather which characterises each 

 part, and that will serve more clearly to identify the appear- 

 ance of each variety. 



HTLRID OB MULE BIKDS. 



The subject of mule or hybrid breeding is one of great interest 

 to the fancy. Authentic accounts have been obtained of some, 

 while we have reports of others without authenticity. 



At several poultry exhibitions the writer has noticed a hybrid 

 said to have originated by crossing a Turkey hen with a Guiuea 

 cock. It has been illustrated in an agricultural paper, but the 



