FOWLS 



43 



FIG. 25. Dominique cockerel. (Photograph from 

 W. H. Davenport, Coleraine, Massachusetts) 



When we speak of 

 native fowls in America 

 we mean fowls derived 

 from the stocks brought 

 here by the early settlers. 

 The fowl was not known 

 in the Western Hemi- 

 sphere until it was 

 brought here by Euro- 

 peans. Britain, France, 

 Spain, Holland, and 

 Sweden all sent colonists 

 to America, and from 

 each of these countries 

 came, no doubt, some 

 of the ordinary fowls of 

 that country. Perhaps 



improved varieties came from some of these lands in early 

 colonial times, but the only 

 breeds that retained their iden- 

 tity sufficiently to have distinc- 

 tive names were the Game 

 Fowls, which came mostly from 

 England, and the Dominiques 

 (bluish-gray barred fowls which 

 probably came from Holland or 

 from the north of France, where 

 fowls of this type were common). 

 The Game Fowls, being prized 

 for the sport of cockfighting, 

 were often bred with great care, 

 but the Dominique fowls (also 

 called cuckoo fowls and hawk-colored fowls) were mixed with 

 other stock, and the name was commonly given to any fowl of 



FIG. 26. Dominique hen. (Photo- 

 graph from Skerritt and Son, Utica, 

 New York) 



