GAME FOWL. 33 



always pink, so that they have the appearance of being under-done. 

 They are not desirable in a poultry-yard, as they would spoil the 

 finest table fowl, if crossed on them. I can, therefore, only re- 

 commend them as mothers, than which, no fowl is better adapted. 

 The cock of the small variety weighs about 2& Ibs., and stands 

 about 13 inches high ; and the hen 2 Ibs., andjstands 11 inches high. 

 The plumage of the best-bred specimens is white. I have seen 

 some of inferior breeding, of other colours ; comb serrated and 

 erect, lark crested ; ear-lobes white, with a tinge of green ; wattles 

 round and short ; hackles silky, with a silvery hue ; tail not well 

 plumed ; legs yellow, and partially booted ; flesh inferior ; eggs 

 abundant ; chickens easily reared : no better mothers. As I con- 

 ceive the large variety to be a mere cross produced from the small, 

 I shall not describe them. 



THE GAME FOWL. 



This well-known and highly-esteemed fowl, is found to be a dis- 

 tinct variety, truly remarkable in its eagerness for combat, and 

 the unflinching courage with which it maintains the fight, under 

 circumstances incredible, and utterly inconceivable to those who 

 have never witnessed the exhibitions which formerly disgraced 

 our city, and, I may say, every other part of this Christian 

 country. I can assure rny readers, the enthusiasm with which 

 this mis-called sport of cock-fighting, was once followed, by its 

 promoters, was never exceeded by any nation. It is evidently of 

 Grecian origin, the inhabitants of Delos and Tanagra, were lovers 

 of this sport, at a very early period, when several cities of Greece, 

 were celebrated for their magnanimous breed of chickens. It 

 was adopted by the Romans, about 471 years before the Christian 

 era, or, according to some authors, immediately after the Pelo- 

 ponnesian war. They had likewise a breed of hens, at Alexandria, 

 in Egypt, which produced the best fighting cocks ; but though it 

 is certain that these fowls, at first, fought full feathered, it was 

 not long before feeders were made use of, as in the modern mode. 

 But at Athens, cock-fighting was partly a political and partly a 

 religious institution, and was there continued, for the purpose of 

 improving the valour of their youth, and by degrees became a 

 common pastime, as well as in all other parts of Greece. On the 

 other hand, the Romans paired Quails, as well as cocks ; and 

 according to Herodian, the first quarrel between Bassianus and 



eta, arose about the fighting of their quails and cocks: notwith- 



