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CHAPTER XIV 



THE CHITTAGONG FOWL. 



IN and around Philadelphia, we have a large Fowl, to which 

 the above name has heen incorrectly given, as, on further ac- 

 quaintance, it has proved to be a mongrel, and, like most 

 mongrels, comparatively worthless. Until within a short time, 

 it went under various names, as Ostrich Fowl, the Turkey 

 breed, the Big breed, the Booby, the Bucks County Fowl, and 

 even the Malay. It is difficult to trace its history. Some forty 

 years ago, several large Fowls were brought hither from differ- 

 ent parts of China, the East Indies, and the adjacent isles ; 

 subsequently, and within a few years, others were added. 

 These all, except in a few cases, have been mixed, and breed 

 indiscriminately ; and the result is the Fowl to which, accord- 

 ing to the caprice of the people, the above names have been 

 applied. It is of all colours, from black to white, frequently 

 speckled, sometimes red and black, and again dun. When 

 bred, it will generally produce its like in point of size, but 

 rarely in point of colour, showing it, unquestionably, to be a 

 mixture of several original breeds. They are not very good 

 layers, though their Eggs are very large and rich. Their legs 

 are sometimes lightly feathered, not always, and vary in colour 

 from yellow to a dark or bluish hue. I once had a Pullet of 

 this kind which weighed eleven and a quarter pounds ; the 



