THE GAME FOWL. 251 



Dr. Bennett ; but I say, with due deference, that, being mon- 

 grels, they must, of necessity " cry back" to one of the original 

 progenitors ; and the first intimation of " crying back" will 

 prove but the beginning of the end ; so that, in the language 

 of Peisthetserus, the breeders and fanciers of mongrels shall 

 still have to utter their complaint : 



"Plague on thee ! but this bird of mine croaks 'back again.' " 



I cannot better illustrate this point, than by quoting a part 

 of a letter which I have just received from my friend, Mr. 

 Taggart, of Northumberland, Pa. He says, " In the spring 

 of 1839, my father purchased a pair of pure Creole Fowls in 

 Reading. Having charge of the Chicken department, I bred 

 them pure for two seasons. After that, I introduced one-eighth 

 or more of the blood of 'a large yellow breed of Fowls, to give 

 them additional size and strength ; always taking care to pre- 

 serve the white necks, spotted bodies, and blue legs of the un- 

 adulterated Creoles. Notwithstanding this precaution for 

 several years, I had among my broods a number of brown or 

 yellow Chickens. At last, the strain ran entirely out, and now 

 my Creoles are as pure, and breed as certainly as your Shang- 

 haes } but they have also gone back to the size of their Reading 

 progenitors." 



An elderly friend of mine, residing some eighteen miles north 

 of Philadelphia, told me, last summer, that the Frizzled Fowl 

 was introduced among his Poultry, and, not being pleased with 

 the result, he made it a point to kill off all the young of that 

 variety, before they were old enough to breed from ; and that 

 he was seven, years in thus restoring his flock to their original 

 condition ; fewer and fewer appearing each year, until about 

 the seventh year, when, and since, none appeared. 



I take pleasure in 'presenting the following letters of my 

 friend, Mr. Taggart, in relation to a peculiar variety of Game 

 Fowl in his possession ; also, in relation to some Chittagongs 



