308 APPENDIX. 



said that in some birds only there is a horse-shoe marking, 

 black on the breast, which is increased with age. The double 

 comb, peculiarly jointed wings, and reversed feathers on the 

 back of the cock's neck, are all without foundation. The hen 

 is of a bay color, light-brown or yellow on the neck, somewhat 

 squatty, like the Dorking, differing little from the latter, except 

 that the tail is shorter, and carried lower.' 



Now, I doubt whether the fowl, as thus described, is any- 

 thing more or less than the Wild Shanghae, found in the moun- 

 tains of Northern China, of which I have a few beautiful spec- 

 imens, imported in 1847. As we have no history of the queen's 

 fowls, of course, we are left to infer the place of their nativity 

 from their reputed characteristics. They agree so much in 

 description, and also, as I shall show, in weight, with my pure 

 Wild Shanghaes, which weigh, when full grown, from fifteen 

 to sixteen pounds per pair, that I have little or no hesitation in 

 saying they were born and bred in Northern China, and not 

 in Cochin China. My Chittagongs and Cochin China, which 

 come, the one from the vicinity of Calcutta, and the other from 

 Southern China, are, as I shall show, considerably larger. 

 From gentlemen with whom I have corresponded, I recently 

 learned the weights of several specimens of fowls in England, 

 which I shall now put in juxtaposition with some of my own. 



POULTRY RECENTLY WEIGHED IN ENGLAND. 



Ibs. oz 



Dorking cock, two years old, 7 4 



Dorking cock, age not named, 6 12 



Malay cock, young 8 



Cochin China cock, 2 years old, 7 9 



Cochin China stag, 2 years old, 6 8 



Cochin China hen, moulting, 5 6 



Cochin China stag, moulting, 5 2 



Malay hen, moulting, 5 6 



Malay pullet, moulting, 4 5 



Dorking hen, full-grown, 6 2 



Dorking pullet, full-grown, 4 6 



