68 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



SKPT. 6, 18^r. 



sg-^'sTwaj^ai iMisgs'osi'S', 



(Selected for the N. E. Fanner.) 

 GIGANTIC COCK. 



l^Galius giganleus — Tcmininck.) 



TlieHescriptioii of Mons Temmiii'-k is founded 

 upon the notices vvliii-li liave bet'ii given by D.iMi- 

 pier ami Marsileii, the only portion of tlie bird 

 whicli he hml seen, — beinif tiie le^ and foot,- — of 

 which he ffives a plale in his Nalnral Ilisloiv of 

 (jaliinaccous birds. Tiure is a speeiiiieii in the 

 Edinlmrgli Museum, said to be wild from Suma- 

 tra, of a htrge size, tlie tail very ample, and en- 

 tirely of a glassy green. Greater wing coverts 

 glassy green, with strong reflections, and having 

 the base feathers du( p chestnut, which occasion- 

 ally appears, and makes them appear mottled aiul 

 interrupted. The height of this specimen from 

 the ground, is about two feet two, to two feel four 

 inches. 



The cocks with ample crests upon the head 

 five toes ; the rumpless cock, and those of very 

 varied colors, appear chiefly to have arisen from 

 the various circumstances of domestication and 

 crossing. 



Other fancy breeds are also frequently seen in 

 the Dutch Pencilled Fowl, pure white, spotted 

 with black; tlie Siberian Fowl, having long tufts 

 of feathers springing from the lower jaws, and 

 lianging down, and the Jiarbary Fowl, of a' pale 

 dun color, and having the feathers of the neck 

 very ample, and spotted with black. A mote sin- 

 gular anomaly occurs in those with five toes, gen- 

 erally called Dorking Fowls, from being found 

 and bred in most abundance in the neighborhood 

 of Dorking, in Surry. This race is easily contin- 

 ued, and seems analagous either to tlie six-finger- 

 ed or six-toed individuals of mankitid, or to the 

 dogs with the additional claws. They are much 

 esteemed, are generally pure white, and grow to a 

 large size ; Dr Latham records one which wpIo-Ii- 

 ed almost fourleon pounds. 



A still more anomalous race occurs, perl<sps, 

 in those without a tail, the Rumpless or Persian 

 cock. But we have also races analsgous to them 

 in the tailless races of dogs and cats. There are 

 races of cocks, however, whose claim to actual 

 distinction of species, is not very well or satisfac- 

 torily ascertaiiied. The G. Morio, having the pe- 

 riosteum of the bones black, and the comb, wat- 

 tles and skin of a ilnll purple. It has received 

 the name of Negro anil Hlackamoor cock, but I 

 believe is scarcely to be seen in the poultry-yards 

 of this country. The other two varieties are more 

 frequently seen, and are known as the silky cock, 

 (G. lanatus,) and the Friesland cock, (G. crispus.) 

 'J'hey are found in Japan and China, and sold to 

 Europeans as a rarity. The Fricslaml or crested 

 cock bus all his feathers, as it were, turned the 

 wrong way ; ihey stand at nearly right angles 

 with the body 



The most pleasing specimen of domesticated 

 fowl, is, with a superabundant crest aiul auricular 

 feathers. The crest is composed of narrow hack, 

 led fi'athers, which grow erect li-om the head 

 (commonly called I'oland breed,) but fall down iii 

 graceful curves, and are sometimes so long as lo 

 overhang and shadow the eye.s. In many parts, 

 this breed is nmch cultivated, and is est(^emed in 

 proportion as the colors of the boily and crest cin 

 be got most conspicuously contrasted, a black 



body with white crest, and the reverse. — JVatur- 

 alist's Library, vol. 3, p. 171. 



BAMilVA COCK. 



( Gallus hiinkitii — Tl mminck.) 



jMany Bantams so nearly re.sendile this bird, 

 that there would -t)e great diliicully in njaking a 

 distinction. Around the eyes and throat is bare, 

 the head, back and sides of the neck surrounding 

 the bare ski.i upon the throat and the rump, are 

 covered with long hackles, of a clear and brilliant 

 golden-orange. 



The true Bantams, so called from the name of 

 the town in Java, are distinguished by the plumed 

 legs, a variation incident only to cultivation and 

 domestication. A still more dwarf race is known 

 under the title of the Gallus pnmlio ; this is ex- 

 tremely dimiimtive, but nearly of the .same col- 

 ors, and is much cultivated among cock-fanciers. 

 There is a club in the vicinity of London, who 

 compete and give prizes to those who succeed in 

 producing the smallest breed. 



THE BROIVZED COCK. 



{Gallus icretts — Curler.) 



This beautiful bird is rather larger than the 

 Bankiva cock. The comb is very large, and with 

 an unbroken edge. The cheeks and thmat bare, 

 the feathers of a metallic green, with biilliant re- 

 flections. The tail is purple, with bright metal- 

 lic reflections — throat, breast and imder parts of 

 a deep black. 



THE PORK-TAIL.ED COCK 



(Gallus furcatus — Tcmminck.) 



This curious cock was first described by M. 

 Semminck, in 1818. It is nearly 2 feet in length 

 to the extremity of the tail. Tlie cheeks are bare, 

 the head furnished with a simple entire comb, and 

 the throat with a single large wattle springing 

 from the centre ; they are all bright-red. The 

 head, neck, and upper part of the back, are re- 

 markable from the short and rotimled form of the 

 feathers — of a deep metallic blue. The hanging 

 feathers are of a rich metallic green, tinged with 

 steel-blue. The bill, legs and feet, yellow. The 

 hen has a circle round the eyes only, naked, and 

 of a livid tint. This bird is said to be very abun- 

 dant in Java, and may be often seen during the 

 day upon the edges of the woods and jungles, but 

 possesses the same wary disjiosition of its coge- 

 nus and pheasants, and upon the least alarm runs 

 to cover. They are not kept in domestic state, 



but they occasionally breed with the tame hens 



a curious fact, and showing the unceriainty with 

 which the true origin is clouded. 



SOBIERAT'S WILD COCK. 



( Gallus soncratii.) 



Sonerat's cock has been dedicated by M. Tem- 

 niinck, to its discoverer. Tli(f first notice we find 

 of it which can be trusted, is in the voyat'e to In- 

 dia, by that traveller, under the title of wild cock, 

 and asserting it as the probable stock from which 

 all our domestic races have arisen. Dr L.jlbam 

 observes that this species is by far the Imhlest ami 

 stiongest, in proportinn to its size, and in Indos- 

 stnn is anxiously .sought after by the cock fight- 

 ers, seldom liiiling to secure the victory over a 

 large game cock. — lb., vol. .S, p. 188. 



(From the ,\lnetican Farmer.) 

 RAISING OP POULTRY. 



Aunt Hester is a woman of a strong mind and 

 practical experience, but she has some old fan- 

 gled notions. I will give you some of tliein, and 

 you can dispose of them as you please. _ The 

 community may then laugh at them without in- 

 quiry, or they may profit by them, if she is not 

 mistaken. 



Aunt Hester was descanting on feeding young 

 poultry to death : us youngsters of course treated 

 it as a whim of one of settled habits, taken up, 

 they did not know why, and |)er.severed in, be- 

 cause it was habitual. " Well," said she, "I will 

 give the best reasons for it I can, and you may 

 then tnake the experiment, and if there is aiiy 

 weight in tny reasons, you may continue to jaw 

 at tny old notions. My own experience," said 

 she, " is, that a hen with a lirood of 15 chickens, 

 turned loose, and cotiipelled to shift for her young, 

 will raise 12 or 13 of them : a hen with the same 

 ninnber, constantly fed, will not raise five." 



These facts caused ine to >iquire within my- 

 self, as to the reasons why it was so, and wheth- 

 er my conclusions are right or not, they are the 

 inost rational I can form. The hen left (o her- 

 self, when hovering her brood, knows that when 

 the chickens leave her wings, that she is to start 

 out with them, to ])erform labor to procure them 

 food, and continues hovering them till they invite 

 her forth. The hen who performs no labor, is 

 restless the moment she feels hunger, and before 

 her brood are thoroughly warmed, after a chill 

 dew, she staits forth to the place of feeding, and 

 the debilitated young which had not the most fa- 

 vorable place for warmth, (being weaker and kept 

 at the outside,) are left draggeled and chilled, and 

 the worms in the windpipe, feeling a portion of 

 the cold, contract themselves into a knot ; hence 

 gapes and death. 



Another result she said, might be the cause of 

 too much feeding ; — it would force out the piii 

 feathers, when the brood was too young ; and 

 forcing out too large a crop of pens at one tiine, 

 would be hurtful, as it required too much of the 

 blood to fill the quills, and produced debility, and 

 a susceptibility to cold. So much for this branch 

 of the business. 



Aunt Hester remarked, that a hen hatching her 

 own eggs, or all the eggs from the same hen, 

 woulil raise more of the brood, than if the eggs 

 were from different hens. The youngsters all 

 cried out moonshine and witchcraft. Well, said 

 Aunt Hester, tny experience has proved what I 

 assert ; and it therefore only belongs to nte to give 

 a reason why it is so. — An entire brood froin the 

 same hen, will all alike be constitutionally sensi- 

 tive to cold, will all wish to be hovered about the 

 same time, and will become invigorated by the 

 same warmth. Those of different hens will be 

 some more, some less sensitive to cold ; those re- 

 quiring less hovering, will leave the wings, run 

 about, and induce the hen to walk about, before 

 the others are sufficiently warmed ; debility, gapes 

 and death overtake the weaker. Aunt Hester 

 says a maiden's hen's eggs may be sot on a month 

 or more, and remain as pure as the day they were 

 laid. If any one chooses to make the experi- 

 ment, let him get a young guinea fowl before it 

 is grown, and have no others on the place. When 

 she lays, i)Ut the eggs under a common hen, and 

 examine them, by breaking one every two or three 

 days. 



