VARIETIES OF DOMESTIC FOWL. 47 



the mere cross of the Chittagongs and Shanghaes. Mr. Burn- 

 ham thus fully and accurately describes the remarkable fowls 

 here portrayed, under date of Feb. 4th, 1850 : 



"The importation consists of six fowls, two roosters and four 

 pullets. They are all last summer's chickens, and from different fam- 

 ilies. They were bred by J. Joseph Nolan, Esq., of Dublin, who says, 

 in a brief note to me : ' I am able to forward you some choice speci- 

 mens of Cochin Chinas ; but cannot send you any as old as those you 

 ordered. The pullets will soon be laying, however, and the cocks, I 

 think, will astonish your neighbors, for weight.' The cocks are very 

 promising in size. The color of one is brown and red ; the other is red 

 and black. The plumage is beautiful, both in the roosters and the 

 pullets. The color of three of the latter is generally a yellowish brown, 

 with black-tipped feathers ; the fourth is a deeper brown. The legs are 

 free from feathers, except a slight show on one of the roosters, and vary- 

 in color from a brownish yellow to dark brown. The form of the pullets 

 is unlike any fqwls I have ever seen, though there is some general 

 resemblance to the pure Dorking. They stand higher on the leg, 

 however. The bodies are symmetrical, but long ; the tail is also longer 

 than that of the Shanghaes, and is very thin and tapering, from the 

 rump outwards. The head of my fowls is quite small, the comb very 

 small, and there are but slight signs of wattles, as yet, on the pullets. 

 The neck is long and serpent-like ; the eye, extremely large and bril- 

 liant ; the chest is full, and the breadth of back is very great. The 

 wing is full sized, and when upon the roost, one end laps over that of 

 the other wing, transversely ; an extra joint on the outer extremity of 

 the wing* enables the bird to sit in this manner. The frames of these 

 fowls are ample, and the plumage lays closely to the body. They 

 weighed, on the average, at starting from Ireland, about eight pounds 

 each. I have weighed them again to-day, and the two best pullets 

 draw eight pounds and two ounces each, and the cock eight pounds 

 and twelve ounces. The stock out of which these birds came is said 

 to be the best in England ; and I learned from Mr. Nolan, that his 

 specimens took the premium at a late fair, at the side of the Queen's 

 fowls. You will not fail to observe, from the drawing, that these 

 fowls are most unlike the figures of her Majesty's in Richardson. A 

 reference to the original picture, in the London Illustrated News, 

 copied by Mr. Bement, will, however, show a strong resemblance 

 between the two ; indeed, the figure in the foreground is a very fair 

 portrait of my birds." 



Some surpassingly beautiful samples of these fowls, from Mr. Nolan's 

 stock, have, likewise, just been imported by Mr. Joseph A. Sampson, 

 of Duxbury, and Mr. George E. White, of Melrose. 



* I have no faith in the extra joint. AUTHOR. 



