250 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



feather is divided by bars evenly arranged, of alternate white and gold 

 color. Like the spangled, they are divided into golden and silver for the 

 same reason — the ground-color of the plumage. In all these birds, exact- 

 ness of the markings is a great point. 



The Black Haniburrj. — This is a very beautiful variety, being of a 

 brilliant black, with metallic luster. The brilliancy of the plumage, 

 contrasted with the coral-red of the spiked comb and the white ear- 

 lobes, renders this fowl so attractive in appearance, that we cannot help 

 wondering that it is not more general, particularly as, like all the Ham- 

 burgs, it is an excellent layer. 



TUE DOEKING FOAVL. 



The Dorking Fowl. — The Dorking would appear to owe its name to its 

 having been chiefly bred in a town of Surry, of the same appellation. 

 That the peculiarity of five toes, or, in other w^oi-'ls, of two hind toes 

 instead of one, is to be regarded as a distinctive character of the breed, 

 is by some writers questioned, and by others wholly denied. For my 

 part, I should say, that whenever this characteristic is absent, a cross 

 has been at work. 



I do not, however, mean to assert that this possession of two hind 

 toes instead of one, has never occurred in any other family of fowl ex- 

 cept those bred at Dorking, in Surry, for Aristotle has mentioned the 

 existence of a similar peculiarity among certain fowl in Greece, and both 

 Columella and Pliny assert the existence of such in their time in Italy, 

 so also does Aldrovand; and these authors lived hundreds of years ago; 

 and, oddly enough, these breeds were remarkable, as are our own Dork- 

 ing, for being good layers and good sitters. 



The color of the Dorking is usually pure white, or spotted or span- 

 gled with black; these colors sometimes merge into a gray or grizzle. 

 The hens weigh from seven to nine pounds ; stand low on their legs ; 



