10 DOMESTIC FOWL. 



size, be a desideratum, they are entitled to every encouragement. 

 Their flesh is white and juicy, and of delicate andfine flavour. They 

 are a close- feathered bird, and require to be handled in order to as- 

 certain their size and weight. They are most prolific layers, and 

 when full grown, produce eggs of more than ordinary size. James 

 Walter, of Windsor, bears testimony of their productiveness. Two 

 hens and a cock sent to an English lady, from my stock, have 

 been described by their present owner, in the Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 of 30th Sept., 1848. 



The weight of fowl, given in a recent English publication, seems, 

 for first-class birds, ridiculously small, in comparison to ours a 

 circumstance which I shall have occasion to refer to, as I proceed. 

 Since their first introduction here, they have very much increased, 

 but the demand for them, particularly in the English market, has 

 thinned my stock. Full-grown cocks, from one and a half to two 

 years old, average a weight of from 10 to 12 Ibs. ; the hens from 

 8 to 9 Ibs. The male bird stands about 2 feet high ; the female 

 about 22 inches. The plumage of the cock figured above is black- 

 breasted red ; they are brown-breasted, and sometimes of a lighter 

 colour ; the hens are generally of a Rufus yellow, or incline to a 

 Rufus brown, sometimes speckled, and are wide on the breast and 

 back; the cock's comb is usually single, serrated, and erect, of a 

 brilliant scarlet, but not always single ; I have had both single 

 and double combs in the same clutch ; the wattles are large ; they 

 are quite free from top-knot ; the hackles on the neck and hips, 

 yellowish brown ; the tail black, with metallic lustre, and when 

 fully furnished presents the usual cock's plume ; the legs vary 

 from a flesh colour to an orange yellow, and are not so long as in 

 the Malay ; the eggs are generally buff-coloured, of large size, 

 and blunt at the ends ; the chickens progress rapidly in size, but 

 feather slowly : so that an early clutch would be most valuable, as 

 passing through the milder summer months. I cannot discover 

 the doubling of the wings, or horse-shoe markings, described by 

 some writers, in any of my stock; I think if it did exist, it was 

 purely accidental. 



THE MALAY FOWL, 



From geographical situation, size, and general deportment (after 

 the Cochin China fowl), is entitled to the next consideration of the 

 amateur or poultry-keeper, whether for pleasure or profit. They 

 are a majestic bird, and are imported from the peninsula from 

 which they take their name ; their weight, in general, exceeds 



