630 



FARMERS* REGISTER. 



[No. 11 



of a cle;ir vivid daric red, williout any shade of 

 black vviialt'ver Iroin the hack to the extremities; 

 the upppr convex side of ihe vvinirs equally red 

 and hiacli, even tliose feathers surrounding the 

 posteriors ; the whole tail-leathers black as well 

 as the top of the winffs ; the beak and legs also 

 black. The female is of a dark p;u'Iridgc color, 

 with bri(>;ht red hackles above, black beneath, the' 

 breast of a clear brick-red, and the beak and feet 

 black. 



The fle>h of the ffame breed is white, tender, 

 and delicate, and on this account markeiable; but 

 the pnipeiisiry to fijrht. is so stronir amoni^ the 

 chickens, iha; they often injure or kill one another, 

 and hence it is difficuh to rear them in numbers. 

 The ecnos are but small in size, but, like the flesh, 

 they are much esteemed Ibr their superior delicacy. 



6. Dorking Cock. 



Char. Spec. — Gallus Bankiva {E) pentad actylus. 

 Temminck, — Male and female with five tots on each 

 foot. Gallus pentadactylus, Brisson, Oin. i. 169 ; 

 Idem, 8vo. i. 46 ; Frisch, Tab. 127, and 123 : Rorn. 

 Orn. 62 — Le Coq et la Poule a cinq doigts, Bvffon, 

 Ois. ii, 124 ; Sonnini, v. 190 ; Giiiel Trad. Fran^. ii. 

 408; Bo7inat. Tab. Enc. Orn. 182, c— Dorking 

 Cock, Latham, Synop. iv. 703; Das funfzehi^er 

 Huhn, Bcchst, Nat. Dentsch. iii, 1295.— (a) Das 

 sechzehige Huhn; (b) Die Spornlmnne, Bechst.; 

 this varipty is crosi^ed from others, and differs only 

 in the number of its toes, Temin. Pig. et Gallin. iii. 

 659. 



Description. — Nobody can doubt that the pro- 

 duction of two hind toes instead of one is merely 

 accidental, like that of two thumbs on each hand 

 eoraetimes observed to run in particular families of 

 the human race; bat double hind claws are cer- 

 tainly not peculiar to the fowls bred about Dorkint; 

 in Surry, for five-toed fowls are mentioned by 

 Aristotle in Greece, by Pliny and Columella in 

 Rome, and by Aldrovand in Italy, hundreds of 

 years ao-o, the breed then as now being reputed 

 good layers. Dr. Brechstein mentions a variety 

 variety with six toes, and another in which the 

 female is furnished with spurs. The writer of the 

 article •'' Poultry" in /?ees's Cyclopaedia, seeming- 

 ly on the best information, says it is quite a mis- 

 take to suppose that the Dorking breed of fowls 

 have uniformly five toes ; but they are of a larger 

 size than the ordinary dunghill fiiwls, the bodv 

 long and the eggs large. The flesh is rather j'el- 

 low than white, and requires to be iiriproved by 

 castration. It is not improbable that this large 

 breed is a cross between the Malay or Shackback 

 and the game variety. The colors are as varia- 

 ble as those of the dunghill fowl, but about Dork- 

 inir, white is most prevalent, and manv esteem a 

 white color to be no less essential to the geiauine 

 breed, than the supernumerary hind claw. 



7. Poland Cock. 



■Char. Spec — Gallus gigantens, Temminck. Male 

 and female .... Coq Jasjo, Marsd. Voy. a 

 Sumatra, Trad. Fran<:. ; Temm. Pig. et Gallin. ii". 84, 

 et Tab. Aiiat. 2 iig. 1. The loot of the natural size 

 — Inhibits Java and Sumatra; is twice as large as 

 the common cock; comb and wattles bright red. — 

 (jI.) Patavinus. Comb toothed, variegated with 

 beautiful colors. Gallus Patavinus, Brisson, Orn, i. 

 170; Idem, 8vo, i. 46: Mdrovund. Av. ii. 310 and 



311, Tab ; Rom. Orn. Tab. 8 and 9, 63. Storia 

 degii Uccelli. ii. pi. 200 and 211.— Le Coq de Caux 

 ou de Padoue, et les Poules de Sansevarre ; Bris&on, 

 Orn. ii. 125 ; Gmel. Trad. Fran9. ii. 409 ; Tern. Pig. 

 et Gallin. ii. 86- — Das Padnanische Huhn, Bechst. 

 Nat. Deutschs. iii. 1293. — Paduan Cock, Latham., 

 Synop. iv. 707. Size agrees with the Gallo gigan- 

 teo, and twice the size of the common cock. Temm. 

 ut supra, iii. 654. 



Description. — The original of this fine breed is 

 supposed by Temminck to be the wild species de- 

 scribed by Marsden as a native of Java and Su- 

 matra, and termed by him the Jago cock, though 

 little more is known of the wild sort than that it 

 is double t!ie size of the Java cock, (&. Banki- 

 va,') or of our dunghill variety. IMarsden says he 

 has seen in the east a cock of thi.s species, tall 

 enough to pick crumbs Irom a dining table. They 

 are said to weiffh from eight to ten pounds. The 

 comb both of the cock and the hen are large, fi-e- 

 quenfly double, of the form of a crown, with a 

 tufted crest of feathers, often largest in the hen. 

 The voice is stron.i^er and harsher than that of 

 other fowls ; but the most singular peculiarity is, 

 that they do not come into full feather till about 

 half grown. 



It is now about two hundred years ago, since 

 the Italian naturalist, Aldrovand, says of the Pa- 

 duan breed, that the cock is very handsome, being 

 adorned with five colors, namely, black, white, 

 trreen, red and yellow; that the whole body is 

 black, but the neck is clothed with very white 

 feathers, the wines and back being black, tinged 

 with green, the tail of the same color, with the 

 base of the feathers white ; that (he head is a- 

 dorned with a tufted crest of a black color, but 

 having the base of the feathers white ; that the 

 eyes are surrounded with a red spot ; that the 

 comb is small, and the beak and ieet are yellow. 



The hen is all over black, tinged with green, 

 except the small jjellicle near the ears, which is 

 white. They produce very large eggs. 



8. Crested Cock. 



Char. Spec. — Gallus Bankiva (B.) cristatus, Tem- 

 minck. Crested on the top of the head with thick 

 feathers, variegated with fair colors. Gallus crista- 

 tus et Galiina cristata, Brisson, Orn. i. 169 ; Raii, 

 Synop. 51. A. i ; Aldorv. Av. ii. 307, var. albo. — 

 Phasianus cristatus, Lath, Ind. Orn, ii. 626, var. y; 

 Lian. Syst. Nat. i. 270, B ; Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. 73S ; 

 Reiz, Faun. Suec. 206, No. 182 ; Borowsk, Nat. ii. 

 178, a; Rum. Orn. i. 60. Le Coq huppe et de Ham- 

 bourg, Bhjfon, Ois. ii. 116; Idem, PI. Enlum. 49; 

 Sonnini, v. 179, Tab. 36 ; Bonat. Tab. Enc. Orn. 

 182; Gmel. Trad. Franc, ii. 408, var. a; Temm. 

 Pig. et Gallin. ii. 239.— Crested Cock. Lath. Sy- 

 nops. iv. 703. — Das hanben Huhn, Bechst. Nat. Dcut. 

 iii. 1283. — (a) Das Huhn weissee mit Schwartzes Fe- 

 derbusch ; (6.) Das schwartze Huhn mit weissem 

 Federbusch ; (c) Das weisse Huhn mitdcm grossem 

 Barte, Bechst ; agrees with other kinds except in the 

 feathered crest. Temm. ut supra, iii. 556. 



Description. — This variety is distinnruished by 

 a densely tufted crest, while the comb is small, 

 and by being variegated with fine colors, while in 

 all other respects it agrees with the common 

 dunghill breed. Dr. Bechstein mentions, as we 

 have seen in the synonymes, the jbllovving varie- 

 ties, namely, white with a black crest; black with 

 a white crest ; and the white fowl with a large 

 beard. 



