662 



FARJMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 11 



and some of the feathers green on the one side, 

 and black on the other ; the body is streaked part- 

 ly vvilh golden and partly with silvery streaks, 

 which add wonderfully to its beauty ; the legs and 

 feel are bluish. 



The Turkish hen is described by Aldrovand to 

 be white, #![)0tted here and there with black ; the 

 feet somewhat blue ; the wattles are smaller than 

 tlhose Oi'" the cock ; she is in every other res[)ect 

 like the cock, except that her neck is yellowish, 

 :and her tail all of one color. 



Aldrovand also describes another variety of the 

 Turkish cock, with feet entirely blue ; the body 

 S|iotted with while and bliick ; the neck asliy- 

 jellow ; and behind tlie comb there is a crest of 

 Avhite leathers. 



14. Dwarf Cock. 



Char. Spec. — Gallus Bankiva (D) Piimilio, Te/nm. 

 Male and female with very short legs; size of a 

 pifjeon. Gallus Pumilio, Brisson, Orn. i. 171, sp. 2; 

 Idem, 8vo, i. 4(j ; Raii, Syiiops. 51, a, var. 2 ; Frisch, 

 Tab. 133 and 134; Willu'j:liby, 110, Tab. 26; Sto- 

 ria degli Uccelli, ii. pi. 214. Phasianns Galius Pu- 

 milio, Latham, Ind, Orn. ii. fi27, var. n ; Gmel. 

 Syst. Nat. i. 738, y. Le Coq nain, Biiffun, Ois. ii. 

 118 ; Sonnini, v. 183; Tcmin. Aig. et Gallin. ii.244. 

 L; Acaho ou Coq de Madagascar, Biijfon par Son- 

 nvii, V. 182; Hist. Gener. des Voy. viii. 603. Le 

 Coq de .lava, Boiiat. Tab.Enc. Oin. 182. Dwarf 

 Cock or Creeper, Lath. Syn. iv. 705. Das Zwer- 

 ghuhn, Bechstein, Nat. Deut. ii. 1288 ; agrees with 

 our own except in size ; Temm. ut sup. iii. 658. 



Description. — This variety, which is not larger 

 than a pigeon, differs from the Bantam chiefly in 

 size, and in the shortness of its legs. The acaho 

 of Madagascar is described as very small, with a 

 circle of leathers about the legs, a thick tail, 

 which it carries straight, and the ends of the wings 

 black. Other varieties, said to come from Cam- 

 bodia, and now Ibund in the Philippine Isles, have 

 the legs so short as to drag the wings on the 

 ground. In addition to these, BufTon mentions a 

 sort of fowls in Britanny, which are always 

 obliged to leap, the legs being so short. These, 

 however, are not small, but of the size of a dung- 

 hill Ibwl. The hens will hatch thirty eggs at a 

 time, that is, more than double the number usual- 

 ly set under common hens. Some think that 

 these dwarf (owls are the Hadrian breed men- 

 tioned by Phny. Aldrovand describes the dwarf 

 hen as all black, except the quill feathers of the 

 wings, which are white at the ends, and on the 

 neck are sqfi\e white crescent-like spots, and a 

 yellow spot around the eye. The head is furnish- 

 ed with a crest of feathers ; the comb is small and 

 dark colored ; the leet are yellowish, and the 

 claws equal and very white. Aldrovand does not 

 mention the cock of this variety. 



15. Rumkin. 



■ Char. Spec. — Gallus ecaudatus, primus, Temm. Male 

 with the comb entire ; lower mandible with double 

 wat1;les ; no tail ; rump with large covert feathers ; 

 body on both sides brownish-orange. Female not 

 described. Coq Wallikikili, Temm. Pig. et GaUin. 

 ii. 267. Inhabits Ceylon. Feet ash-grey ; comb 

 and wattles blood-red. Length 13 or 14 inches. 

 This species is destitute of the rump and coverts. 

 , (A..) Galius ecaudatus, Domesticus. Tail or rump 



awanting, variegated with beautiful colors. Gallus 

 PersicLis, Brixson, Oni. i. 174, No. 5; Jonston, Av. 

 58. Phasianus Gallus ecaudatus, Latham, Ind. Orn. 

 ii 627 ; Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 271, var. y ; Gmel. Syst. 

 Nat. i. 738 ; Rail, Synops. 51, a. 1 var. 3; Frisch, 

 Tab. 131 and \Z2 ■, Borowhk, Natt. ii. 181. Le 

 Coq sans croupion, Bvffun, Ois. ii. 122 ; Sonniin, v. 

 193, No. 16; Gmel. Trad. Fran?, ii. 408, f; Temm. 

 Pig. et Gallin. ii. 271. Persian Fowl or Rundiin, 

 Wdlughbi/, Orn. 156, No. 6, Tab. 1.6. Rumple.«s or 

 Persian Cock, Lalh. Svn. iv. 705. Das Kluthulin, 

 J^nscA, Tab. 131 and "]32; Bechst. Nat. Dtutscld. 

 iii. 1287. (a) Das gehaubte Kluthuhn, Frisch. t. 130. 



Temniinck and oilier naturalists now consider 

 this to be a distinct species rather than a variety, 

 takinir its origm fiom a wild species still to be 

 (bund in Ceylon. It is dislinguished by the want 

 of a tail, by the comi> not being in tlie wild birds 

 indented, and with the wattles blood-colored ra- 

 ther than scarlet. The leathers are all of a dusky 

 orange in the wild birds, but hnely vjiriegated in 

 the tame ones. As these fowls were commonly 

 domesticated m Virginia, Buflbn erroneously sup- 

 posed them to be mdigenous to America. Al- 

 though the wild s[)ecies has not indentations in 

 the comb, this is not the case with the tame ones, 

 which have often a Inrge indented comb. Aldro- 

 vand describes the cock as black interspersed with 

 wliite, the rest white ; the feet cini^eous. The 

 hen, he says, has a smaller comb than the cock, 

 and is of a rusty color, except three black leathers 

 in each wing. 



From the rumkin being destitute of the gland 

 on the rump, M. Reannmr derived one of his ar- 

 guments atjamst the almost universal opinion, 

 that this ijland is designed to furnish birds vvilh a 

 sort of oil with which to dress their feathers — an 

 opinion not very tenable when clo.seIy examined. 

 The rumkin has not the least vestige ol'this rump 

 gland; but the place where it ought to be, as m 

 other fowls, is more depressed than the rest, the 

 flesh being smooth, and without any secretion or 

 excretory ducts. 



"All," says Reaumur, "have been of opinion 

 that the feathers of birds, in order to be sheltered 

 against rain, wanted to be done over vvilh a kind 

 of oil or grease, that might cause the water to run 

 ofl' them without penetrating them, and that this 

 unclion wanted to be repeated from time to time. 

 In consequence of this, they have pretended to 

 make us admire a reservoir of unctuous matter 

 placed on the nmip of each bird, out of vvhich it 

 expresses, and fakes it with its bill to convey and 

 spread it all over the leathers that require it. In 

 order to expose a notion that must needs have been 

 pleasing, since it is universally espoused, it need 

 only be mentioned, that the feathers of the tailless 

 or rumpless hens are as much proof against rain 

 as those of other hens, and of many other birds 

 that are provided with a rump in vvhich the secre- 

 tion of an unctuous liquor is effected." — (Z,^j/rt 

 faire eclore, ii. 10.) 



16. Silky cock. 



Char. Spec — Gallus lanafus, Tcmminck. Male and 

 female white, with feathers like liair. Gallus japo- 

 nicus, Brisson, Orn. i. 175, No. 6. Tab. 17. fig. 2, 

 fem.; Mt'm, 8vo, i. 48. Phasianus Gallus lanatus, ia- 

 tham, Ind. Orn. ii. 628; Liiin. Syst. Nat. i. 271 ; Gmel. 

 Syst. Nat. i. 739 ; Borowsk. Nat. ii. 180, g. Le 

 Coq et La Poule a duvet, Bvffcm, Ois. ii. 121 ; Idem, 



