128 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I. 



must be left to the fancy of those who are to raise the fowls. In a fanner's 

 family, this will generally be the female portion of it, and the guJewife or 

 chililron who take the fowls under their charge, should bo consulted. At 

 least the diftercnt varieties should be made known to them, by placing in 

 tlieir hands some good treatise upon poultry. Several volumes have been 

 publiihed, with portraits and full descriptions, and how to conduct the 

 business of poultry raising on a large or small scale. "\Ve can not give this 

 information in full ; we will only name the several sorts which are to be 

 found among poultry fanciers in this country, with short descriptions, and re- 

 fer readers, for comparison of size and form, to the bcautil'ul engraved illus- 

 trations of varieties, found in standard English works on Domestic Poultry. 



181. The Shanshae and fhiua Brcfd.— A few years ago a good many 

 people in this country, alHicted with tiic '■ hen fever," went into ecstasies over 

 the Shanghae, or China, breed of fowls, some of which are enormously large. 

 Cocks are spoken of as being twenty-eight inches high. The wings are 

 short, and placed high upon the body. The tail is short, with a thick clump 

 of feathers over the root of the tail feathci-s. The cocks have large combs 

 and wattles ; the hens are seldom large. Tlie legs are feathered. The eggs 

 are not large in proportion over the size of eggs of our old-style fowls ; the 

 color is nankeen, and the ends rather blunt. 



Those who breed Shanghae fowls consider the flesh very good, and the 

 full-grown bodies of cocks weigh eight or ten pounds, and pullets six or 

 eight pounds. There are varieties of colors among the Shanghaes — some 

 being pure white ; others, a reddish brown, etc. 



The variety known as Cochin-China fnvls differ very much in quality, 

 habits, and general appearance from the Shanghae.-, to which they arc closely 

 related. Their eggs are nearly the same shape, size, and color. The main 

 difi'crence is in the somewhat deeper and fuller breast, and being generally 

 smooth-legged. They also have the same hollow, harsh voice, when crow- 

 ing, in their peculiar sonorous tone, long drawn out, and very iinlikc the 

 shrill ringing clarion of our old-style barn-door cock. 



The Malay, or Chittagong, is another name of one of the varieties of the 

 China breed of fowls, which are supposed to 1)0 larger than the Cochins ; 

 the size, by weight, accorded to some of them seems enormous. 



We believe the variety called Malay fowls are considered identical with 

 the variety called Chittagong. The full-grown Malay cock is said to weigh 

 12 lbs., and the hens 8 to 10 lbs. They are of all shades of color, and have 

 small, thick combs and small wattles, and no toji-knot ; the legs not feath- 

 ered. Their eggs are larger than those of the other large varieties. The 

 crow of the Malay cock is loud and harsh, but terminates abruptly. 



182. Ornamental Varieties of Fowls. — As the China breed, which we have 

 described, can not be said to be ornamental around a genteel farm-house or 

 rural residence, we will name some which are so, and at the same time are, 

 at least some of them, very valuable for all domestic purposes. The general 

 appearance of the various sorts may be judged from reading the short notes 



