VARIETIES OF DOMESTIC FOWL. 65 



additional testimony to the good laying qualities of this partic- 

 ular fowl, and valuable information respecting the male bird, 

 which was unfortunately lost. 



"Hanover, Wth Aug., 1849. 

 To DR. BENNETT. Sir : 



In the last number of the Boston Cultivator, I noticed an 

 article written by yourself, in which you described the famous 

 India hen, imported by Mr. Estes ; and having procured her for 

 him, I read the article with no small degree of interest. I was 

 somewhat disappointed in your statement in regard to her lay- 

 ing qualities, having anticipated otherwise, from the fact of 

 hei having layed a full litter on the passage home, commenc- 

 ing when five days from Rio Janeiro, and only missing three 

 days, in a litter of thirteen, while the ship was in violent 

 motion, in a gale of wind. The rooster, her mate, died on the 

 passage, which I very much regretted, as I believe there is 

 nothing like him in this country. He stood as high as a large 

 turkey, and would weigh at least twelve pounds ; his plumage 

 being of a reddish cast, interspersed with spots of glossy green, 

 with a very small comb, and no wattles, with a bill unlike any 

 other fowl, except the hen. I used every exertion in my power, 

 on ship-board, to save his life, but to no purpose ; I much wish 

 you could have had him, with your numerous other varieties. 

 I purchased these fowls to fulfil a promise made to Mr. Estes, 

 when I left home, to procure him a pair of rare fowls on my 

 return, paying $3.50 for them, when I could have purchased 

 others at one quarter that price. With regard to her fighting 

 qualities, I may say, she whipped a flock of twenty-three hens 

 and two roosters on the morning after I arrived at my father's 

 house in this town, immediately on being let out from the coop 

 in which she had been brought from the ship at New Bedford ; 

 and this she did without stopping. 



LEBBEUS STODDARD, JR." 

 6* 



