ITALY FOWLS. 161 



rather than scarlet This bird was early domesticated in this country, 

 and from the fact of their being early seen in Virginia by trayelers, Buf- 

 fon imagined they were indigenous there. One of the most singular 

 facts about this bird is its entire destitution of the gland on the rump, 

 from which it is supposed common fowls derive their stores of oil to 

 smooth their feathers and protect them from rain. As the feathers of 

 the Rumpkin are not less smooth than those of other fowls, and shed 

 rain equally well, it would seem this gland was destined to perform 

 some other office, and that the common notion on this subject had little 

 foundation in fact. In the wild breeds, the feathers are all of a dusky 

 orange, and this, on a reddish brown, seems to prevail among the 

 domesticated ones. There are, however, some instances in which the 

 common birds are finely variegated one of which is in the possession 

 of the writer. 



This breed is looked upon by some to be a native of Persia. Buf- 

 fon thinks, on the contrary, that Virginia is the place whence it sprang. 

 He grounded his opinion, on the one hand, on what is reported by the 

 Philosophical Transactions of 1693, that when fowls are taken to that 

 country, they seem to lose their rumps; and on the other, on natural- 

 ists having only begun to mention fowls without tails, after the dis- 

 covery of America. I am not of that opinion, says Main, whieh 

 appears not admissible. In fact, modern travelers have not confirmed 

 the loss of the rump, which the English experience in Virginia, and it 

 is positively known, that in the other parts of America, in the hottest 

 even, this privation daes not take place. 



ITALY FO WLS. 



Whether the above fowls are entitled to the name of a dis- 

 tinct breed, I am unable to say. But little notoriety has been 

 given them, and the works on domestic poultry do not describe 

 them. Mr. S. Y. Clark, of K J., thus writes : 



Understanding that you are going to dish us up with some sketches 

 and samples of poultry, I offer an account of a kind which is common 

 in our neighborhood. Where they came from, I do not recollect; but, 

 considering this of secondary importance, admitting them to be 

 exotics, I will proceed to describe them. 



They are known here by the name of "Italy Fowls," and in appear- 

 ance differ mainly from others by their large combs, which, in some 

 of the males, are from one and a half to two inches broad, double, 

 and covering the entire crown of the head. They are about medium 

 eize, of a color varying from mottled grey to a light dun. In some 

 males, however, the predominating color is red. The full bloods, have 

 rather blue legs and skins, which, in my opinion, is their only fault. 

 But they mix freely with other breeds, and with little care, they can 

 be had with bright yellow legs and skins. The texture of their flesh 

 is fine and well flavored, and they come to perfection earlier than any 

 other breed I have ever had. I have five or six breeds of fowls, but 



