The Origin of Poultry Breeds. 7 



pinkish and pure white. Moreover, they are more or less 

 pointed, as well as larger or smaller than the original. 



But nothing shows the unity of descent of our domestic 

 fowls more than the voice. The Callus Bankiva crows in its 

 natural state, although the closing note is said to be a little 

 shorter than the others. We find that fowls from all parts of 

 the world, however long they may have been dispersed, have 

 the same notes, varying only in degree, in accordance with 

 their size, shape and condition. Of the many sounds made 

 by fowls, the first mention I know of is by Gilbert White, in 

 his ' ' History of Selbornc, " where he records some of them and 

 their modulations. We find they are the same in all the 

 breeds ; but more frequent in the lively ones. The language 

 of fowls is more expressive than that of any other animals, as 

 far as we know, ranking next to that of man. From chicken- 

 hood, fowls use at least 19 distinct expressive notes or calls, 

 some almost sentences, varied in modulations and embracing 

 a great diversity of meaning. 



Regarding the pliability of the nature of fowls, nothing il- 

 lustrates it more than the production of Bantams. Not many 

 years ago these were thought by many to be a distinct species, 

 and were called African, Java or Japanese Bantams. At the 

 present time our fanciers have reduced many other breeds to 

 the Bantam size, though of very different types, and exceed- 

 ingly small and beautiful. Another charm of poultry-breed- 

 ing is the production of new breeds, while some older ones dis- 

 appear. 



