20 THE POULTRY-BOOK. 



The tail-feathers of pheasants are noticeably different. They 

 are long and vaulted, and the intermediate ones are longer than 

 those of the side, and the cheeks are overspread with a multi- 

 tude of very short feathers, exceedingly soft to the touch, and 

 in appearance like velvet. The constitution of these birds 

 seems to be delicate, and it is only by great care and caution 

 that they can be induced to breed when domesticated. The 

 cock tribe, on the contrary, is exceedingly hardy, and they 

 endure changes of temperature and climate with comparative 

 impunity. This fact appears by their existence in almost all 

 the world, whether tropical, temperate, or frigid. 



The Domestic Cock seems to have been known to man from 

 a very early period. Of his real origin there is little definitely 

 known, and even the time and manner of his introduction into 

 Greece, or southern Europe, is invested with obscurity. But 

 the cock has never been undistinguished among birds. In the 

 days when Greece and Rome were in their glory, he occupied 

 a conspicuous place in those public shows which amused the 

 masses of the people. His praises have been sung in immor- 

 tal verse by poets whose names, even now, are familiar to us 

 as household words. His effigy was engraved, and is extant 

 on various ancient medals and coins. He was dedicated to the 

 service of the Deities, and was connected with the worship of 

 Apollo, Mercury, Mars, and particularly ^Esculapius. To 

 this god Socrates directed a cock to be sacrificed in those mel- 

 ancholy hours which immediately preceded his frightful death. 



As a delicacy, the flesh of this bird was highly esteemed in 

 ancient times, and figured conspicuously at the Roman ban- 

 quets. Great care was used in the rearing and fattening of 

 poultry for this purpose. From Rhodes and Delos the finest 

 birds were procured, and a brisk traffic was kept up between 

 these islands, and the purveyors for Roman epicureanism. 



It is remarkable that a practice so barbarous as that of cock- 



