6 PREFACE. 



supply, and in subjection to him. They there- 

 fore have no place in a history of British birds, 

 and it is only by a sort of permitted license that 

 they are found introduced into such works. Lest, 

 however, any should be disappointed and at a loss 

 in not rinding them noticed in this work, a short 

 account of them shall be given here. 



THE DOMESTIC FOWL is of Indian origin. Our 

 original breed has multiplied into numerous 

 varieties, and great, indeed, is the extent to which 

 the passion for rearing them has been carried, 

 as has been seen in the exhibitions of the 

 Cochin-China and other breeds. At what period, 

 or how, the fowl was introduced into the British 

 isles, it is now impossible to ascertain ; but it 

 must have been very early, since it was among 

 the things forbidden by the Druids as food. 



These household birds seem, like the faithful 

 dog, especially intended for the service of man, 

 as, with the exception of North and South 

 America and the great Australian continent, there 

 is scarcely any portion of the globe where poultry 

 have not been known and cherished from -a very 

 remote period. 



