1892. 



SOME NEW BOOKS. 225 



wattles, close plumage, and often a very savage disposition. The 

 Malay is too long in the leg to be of much practical value, but the 

 nearly allied breed, miscalled Indian game, is an excellent table-fowl. 

 The true fighting-cocks of India belong to the Aseel breed, the chief 

 drawback to which is its extreme pugnacity. The young cocks, we 

 are told, " will fight while little chickens, and when they can no longer 

 stand will lie upon the ground and peck at one another." The small 

 combs of these very pugilistic birds do not afford much support to 

 Elmer's view, that frequent stimulation by seizure in fighting has led 

 to the increased size of the comb in domestic poultry as compared 

 with the wild birds. 



Even the French table-breeds, which come next in order, have 

 not escaped deterioration ; the modern Houdan, with its head like a 

 feather mop, presenting a woeful contrast to the moderately crested 

 bird at first imported. These first importations, too, were often without 

 the additional toe ; but this useless deformity has now been established 

 as a feature of the breed. In this chapter, too, attention is drawn to 

 the curious fact that " large combs, although they show that the birds 

 possessing them are good layers, also indicate that they are not 

 readily fattened " ; though in the case of breeds where a large comb 

 is a show-point, it would not be safe to select the largest-combed hens 

 as layers. This is the case with the various breeds of Mediterranean 

 origin, to which a chapter is devoted. The best known is the 

 Spanish, whose chief point, for many years, has been a perfectly 

 white face and ear-lobe. This latter appendage has been so 

 developed by cultivation as to become 3 or 4 inches in length, and in 

 pursuit of this and similar excellences the breed has been rendered 

 extremely delicate and infertile ; although a writer in the Stockkeepev 

 maintains that Mr. Tegetmeier has overstated the case against the 

 modern specimens of this formerly profitable breed, saying that the 

 prize hen alluded to as barren had really laid one egg, while, as to 

 hardihood, a high-class cock, kept in an open shed during the winter, 

 had only lost part of his comb and the ends of his toes. But even 

 such prolificacy and hardihood as this can hardly be considered 

 sufficient for practical purposes. These Mediterranean varieties do 

 not sit, and this absence of the instinct for incubation, so advan- 

 tageous for egg-production, is also characteristic of the Hamburgs 

 and Polish, treated, with other varieties, in Chapter X. The former 

 of these, though very beautiful, are, like the latter, whose heavy 

 crests have always been a drawback to their usefulness, not to be 

 recommended for practical purposes. 



In the excellent chapters on the practical management of fowls, 

 we are glad to see that the notion of crooked breasts arising from the 

 use of small perches is contradicted. There is a too prevalent idea 

 among bird-keepers that round perches are objectionable, even for 

 passerine birds, whose perfectly constructed grasping feet are so 

 eminently suited for holding a round support. With regard to 

 hatching, it is stated that eggs with any irregularity of shell should 

 invariably be rejected, as they will not hatch. In France, chickens 

 are largely hatched by turkey-hens, and it might have been men- 

 tioned that the cock-turkey will also undertake this task. 



With regard to ducks, the Aylesbury is the breed recommended. 

 That neglected species, the Muscovy [Caivina moschata), is not men- 

 tioned, though its hybrids with the common breeds must possess 

 some value, since a very practical breeder advertises eggs from the 

 Aylesbury, mated with this bird, for sale, and it is not in repute as a 



