190 DIFFERENT BREEDS OF POULTRY. 



flesh approaches nearer to that of the Game fowl than any 

 other breed we know j but is more tender, while having less of 

 what is called " gamey " flavour. This breed is chiefly used to 

 produce the magnificent capons and poulardes so celebrated in 

 the Paris market, and which sell for a guinea or thirty 

 shillings each in French money. 



The cocks suffer much from leg weakness and disease of the 

 knee-joint, and do not bear the fatigue and excitement of 

 exhibition so well as most fowls. 



HOUDANS. This fowl in many respects resembles the Dork- 

 ing, and Dorking blood has evidently assisted in its formation. 

 Houdans have the size, deep compact body, short legs, and fifth 

 toe of the Dorking, which in form they closely resemble, but 

 with much less offal and smaller bones. The plumage varies 

 considerably, but is always some mixture of black and white, 

 arranged in a sort of irregular splash or speckle all over. Some 

 hens become nearly white as they grow older, the breed 

 getting lighter with age. To avoid this, some breeders have 

 been in the habit of crossing with the Creve, and the result has 

 been seen in young birds almost black, and with the plain two- 

 horned Creve comb instead of the peculiar comb of the Houdan; 

 but a reaction speedily set in against this, and what seems now 

 desired is a true Houdan comb, and somewhere about an equal 

 amount of black and white in the plumage. English judges 

 lay a great deal of stress upon crest ; and the result has been 

 a marked deterioration in prolificacy, as in the Creve. 



Some Houdans are very large we have weighed a hen ten 

 pounds, but this is rare. The wattles are pendent and well 

 developed, although the breed is well whiskered. The comb is 

 most peculiar and characteristic, resembling the two leaves of 

 a book opened, with a sort of strawberry-looking lump in the 

 centre ; in the hen it is small Creve combs are now usually 

 disqualified. 



