cocnix-cuiNA rowLS.] 



ruULTKY, 



[CUCHI 



K-CHIN.V FOWLS. 



them ; and, in Turkey, the Cochin-Chinns were 



known and lii^'hly prized while still stmiij^cra 

 here, having passed into that euuiitry hy way 

 of Asia. A few years back, while the Cochiti- 

 China fowls were yet unknown to me, and 

 after I had met with only disappointment in 

 an endeavour to discover, in the Spanish, the 

 good qualities often attributed to them, I was 

 told of some fowls to be found in Turkey, pos- 

 sessing size and other good qualities in great 

 ]ierfection, and I, of course, became immedi- 

 ulely very anxious to buy some of these rare 

 birds. Several of our friends, at that time 

 living in Constautinople, and their friends, 

 kindly placed themselves in full pursuit of 

 these wonderful fowls, but without success ; 

 and we were, after some time, obliged to give 

 up the idea of having them. At length, one 

 of our Constantinople friends came to London 

 to see the Exhibition, and, on his return, I sent 

 bv him a Cochiu-China cockerel and two pul- 

 lets, as a present to his father. During the 

 vovage, many persons from the different ports 

 came on board to see these wonderfully large 

 fowls, with a strange, unearthly crow ; and, on 

 the arrival of the ship at Constautinople, it 

 was found that those were the very same fowls 

 which I had been so anxious to obtain from 

 Turkey ; which had, however, become very 

 scarce there, and which, if ever sold at all, 

 were only to be purchased at an enormous 

 price. 



" About eight years ago, a young sailor, who 

 had served in our family before he went to sea, 

 brought me a fowl from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, of a kind which I have never seen since. 

 He (for it was a cock bird) was entirely jet 

 black, with long scarlet wattles, and a very full 

 roie comb ; the shape of his head and neck 

 was Malay-like, and his tail drooping. He 

 was very upright in carriage, and he looked 

 tall, even by the side of a fine Spanish cock. 

 He was certainly very handsome. Of his other 

 qualities I had little opportunity of judging; 

 for very soon after I had him, he and his rival, 

 the Spanish cock, got together and fought, al- 

 though we had fancied them securely sepa- 

 rated, and both ultimately died from the injuries 

 which they then received. I never but once 

 saw a bird like him, and which I have always 

 thought must have been brought over at the 

 same time ; for the same sailor had two cocks 

 5 k 



with him in that voyage. Thin nccond bird I 

 saw exhibited at a poultry exhibition in the 

 Zoological Gardens, Ivegcut'H Park : lie was 

 mated with hens very unlike hiiiiHelf, and the 

 coop was labelled ' Crow Birds.' " 



In the essentials of size and power, tho 

 Cochin-China fowls excel every other kind of 

 poultry ; wiiilst the softness of their colour is 

 the admiration of many. This generally con- 

 sists of rich glossy brown, or deep bay, with 

 an occasional mark on the breast, of a blackish 

 eolour, and of the shape of a horse-shoe. This 

 mark, however, is not to be taken as an infal- 

 lible sign of tho breed. Tho comb is of a 

 medium size; sometimes, but not always, 

 ylightly serrated ; and the wattles are double. 

 The plumage is bright, and has a peculiar soft- 

 ness to the touch ; whilst the prevailing and 

 most admired colours are buff, yellow, cinna- 

 mon, and grouse. 



In exhibiting the Cochin-China fowl, colour, 

 beauty, symmetry, weight, and general excel- 

 lence are of great importance. Various rules 

 have been laid down for the guidance of 

 amateurs in the purchase of these birds ; and 

 having been framed, the following general 

 outline can safely be given : — 



1. Moderate length of legs, inclining rather 

 to short than long. The legs yellow, or yel- 

 lowish, in front, with reddish or flesb-coloured 

 sides, and well covered to the toes with 

 feathers. Fowls without feathered legs (that 

 is, " not booted," to use the technical phrase), 

 do not possess one of the essential character- 

 istics of a first-rate bird. The more densely 

 the outside of the leg is feathered, and the 

 nearer in colour the leg feathers are to those 

 of the other parts of the body, the greater the 

 beauty, so far as the booting is concerned. 



2. Head, rather small and narrow ; face 

 red ; comb somewhat diminutive, single, and 

 not too deeply serrated ; even {i.e., not bent in 

 and out) and upright. 



3. Tail very short, so as to be almost buried 

 in the rump feathers, especially in the hen. 

 Pure Cochin-China fowls have no "scimitar 

 tail-feathers." Some were exhibited at Lewes, 

 which had these feathers naturally, aud were, 

 therefore, disqualified. 



4. Wing small, the extremitie.-} of which 

 should be almost hidden under the breast fea- 

 thers before, and by the saddle feathers behind. 



