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tail, and that its general appearance was a little heavier than in the present highly 

 bred English game fowl ; that the hen was brown, marked something like a Black- 

 red game hen, with a very small single serrated comb, resembling the cock in 

 general contour, and colour of leg and eye, but darker than the present Black-red 

 game hen, and probably more inclining to grouse colour than to partridge. 



Here follows a copy of a letter to the Field, in answer to Mr. Tegetmeier, 

 who stated therein that Cochins had a different origin from the rest of domestic 

 poultry, and was written some time after my Vienna pajser. 



" I have been waiting in the hopes of seeing some further letters on this subject 

 " which has recently been discussed in the Field newspaper, and which certainly 

 " deserves a more lengthened investigation than that which has already taken 

 " place. I may say I cannot agree with Mr. Tegetmeier in believing that Cochins, 

 " however distinct their shape and type, have a different origin from the rest of our 

 "domestic poultry. In a paper which was read on the above subject at the Inter- 

 " national Ornithological Congress at Vienna last year, I went very fully into this, 

 " and remarked about'Cochins, that in instances where a Buff Cochin cock had been 

 " turned down in a farm yard with the intention of enlarging the common farm 

 " poultry, yet directly the descendants of this cross were allowed to breed among 

 "themselves, what had been the result ? First the bar on the wing made its appear- 

 " ance in a greater or less degree, next the cocks became red and the hens brown or 

 " yellowish brown, and both showed only a slight trace of their Cochin ancestor in 

 " their fluffy [sterns, and somewhat shorter tails. Gradually even these evidences of 

 " Cochin blood disappeared, and in a very few generations the cocks relapsed into 

 " the common red, and the hens into the common brown birds of the country. 

 " Now, I am sure Mr. Tegetmeier must have often noticed this, and I think he will 

 "agree with me that if the Buff Cochin had a different origin to the domestic 

 " poultry, its unusually distinctive type would not so easily disappear and revert to 

 " what must have been the colour, and probably the shape, of its original ancestor, 

 " viz., a black -breasted Red. 



" Take another instance, where a Black Polish cock with a white crest, a breed 

 " of great antiquity, and of quite as pronounced a type as a Cochin, has been turned 

 " down with common barn-door hens. What is the result when the progeny are 

 " allowed to breed inter se ? The colour of the Polish cock goes first, getting 

 "redder and redder, then the crest gets smaller until it gradually dies out 

 "altogether, and no trace of it remains. To quote an example, in which it dis- 

 " appeared in the very first cross, a beautiful and well-bred Black Polish cock 

 " with a white crest 'was put down to some common barn-door hens, to whom no 

 " other cock could possibly get access. The chickens of the first cross were plentiful 

 " and strong, but, singular to say, not a cock, except one or two, showed any sign 

 " of a crest. Only one cock was black, vidth a double comb, no crest, and much like 

 "a Black Hamburgh, whilst several were common black-breasted red birds, single 

 *' combed, and distinctly barred on the wing, without a particle of crest or anything 

 " to denote the slightest trace of their Polish parent. 



