14 DOMESTIC FOWL. 



None but the veriest dupes, now suppose that our domestic fowl 

 have a continuous cross of the true pheasant ; the hybrid birds 

 produced between them, cannot be mistaken, having very much 

 the appearance and character of the true pheasant, and with it 

 ceases all further propagation. 



THE CHITTAGONG, 



Another eastern variety, frequently confounded with the Malay ; 

 there is no doubt of its being a distinct species ; the colour is 

 uniform, or nearly so ; not so with the Malay; they are large in 

 the body, and short on the legs. They do not stand so high as either 

 the Cochin China or Malay ; the cock stands, in his ordinary way, 

 about 22 inches in height, and the hens about 20 inches ; the 

 weight of the cock is from 8 to 10 Ibs., and the hens from 6 to 7 

 Ibs. ; the plumage is uniformly speckled gray, or what some un- 

 derstand as cuckoo-coloured, with large comb, free from top-knot, 

 with ordinary-sized wattles ; hackles partaking of the same mottled 

 gray of the rest of the plumage ; the tail is small in proportion to 

 their size ; the legs vary, being occasionally white, blue, or yellow ; 

 the eggs are large and abundant ; the early chickens advance in 

 size and plumage with as much rapidity as our common poultry. 

 There is no doubt of their being crossed on the Dorking, which 

 fowl they much resemble in shape, and then produce what is de- 

 nominated the gray Dorking ; they are a large-sized, hardy, and 

 very valuable bird. 



THE TKCE DORKING, 



COLOURED DORKING FIVE-TOED DORKING. 



What we want, and expect, in the Dorking, is size, and the 

 coloured birds have it, in perfection. 



Giving the Rev. Mr. Dixon, of Norwich, author of " Orna- 

 mental and Domestic Poultry," every credit for his learning and 

 research, it occurs to me, that he has not put himself in possession 

 of correct information, as to the entire subject, on which he pro- 

 poses to enlighten us. The humblest cottager in Ireland would 

 smile at the idea of a learned English ornithologist, stating that 

 his specimens of "fine Dorking fowl" weighed only 7 Ibs. each, 

 while our roadside birds can be had from 7 to 9 Ibs. The cock 



