ASIATIC FOWLS. 



101 



which has not yet been made sensible to my 

 own palate." 



They are not remarkable as prolific layers, but 

 still, if well fed, they certainly are of an average 

 merit in this respect. They seldom lay more 

 than twelve or fourteen at a litter. Upon an 

 average there will be fewer unproductive eggs 

 among a given number than among the same 

 number laid by any other hen under the same 

 treatment. The outer shell is oftentimes very 

 thin, and the under skin so tough and unyield- 

 ing, as in numerous instances to strangle the 

 chick in its birth. Dr. Kittridge says they are 

 good layers, eggs very large, and hatch well. 



The Malay hen sits closely and well, failures 

 in the number of her brood rarely arising from 

 any defect on her part. She is exceedingly at- 

 tentive to her chickens; but it is necessary to 

 watch her for the first few days after hatching, 

 lest her great weight and long legs might crush 

 any of her progeny while small and weakly. 

 Such accidents, however, may be generally pre- 

 vented by giving her an abundance of room. 



Like those of the Shanghais, the chickens 

 feather slowly, on which account no brood should 

 be hatched after June ; otherwise the cold and 

 variable weather of autumn comes upon them 

 before they are half grown, and the increase of 

 their bodies has so far outstripped that of their 

 feathers, that they are half naked about the neck 

 and shoulders, which renders them extremely 

 susceptible of wet and cold. The chickens are 

 not difficult to rear, but are gawky, long-legged 

 creatures until they have attained their full 

 growth, and then fill out or " square up." 



THE COCHIN FOWL. 



Until recently very little, if any thing, was 

 known of the Cochin breed of fowl. No men- 

 tion is made of them in any of our early pub- 

 lications on poultry. The first notice of them 

 we find in the London Illustrated News of 1844. 

 The writer says : " Her Majesty's collection of 

 fowl is very considerable, occupying half a dozen 

 very extensive yards, several small fields, and 

 numerous feeding-houses, laying-houses, winter 

 coverts, etc. It is, however, in the new fowl- 

 house that the more rare and curious birds are 

 kept, and to these we shall confine our attention. 



The Cochin fowls claim the first consideration. 

 These extraordinary birds are of a gigantic size 

 and in their proportions very nearly allied to 

 the family of bustards, to which in all probabil- 

 ity they are proximately related in fact, they 

 have already acquired the name of Ostrich 

 fowl.' In general color they are of a rich glossy 

 brown; tail black, and without side feathers; 

 in the breast a horse-shoe marking black ; the 

 comb double. Two characters appear to be pe- 

 culiar to them one, the arrangement of the 

 feathers on the back of the cock's neck, which 

 are turned upward ; and the other, the form of 

 the wing, which is jointed to fold together, so 

 that on occasion the bird may double up its 

 posterior half and bring it forward between the 

 anterior half and body. The eggs are of a deep 

 mahogany color, and of a delicious flavor. These 

 birds are very healthy, quiet, attached to home, 

 and in every respect suited to the English cli- 

 mate. In order to promote their propagation 

 her Majesty made presents of them occasionally 

 to such persons as she supposed likely to appre- 

 ciate them." 



Their origin was traced to a country situated 

 in the southern part of China, to a country 

 the name of which they bear. Though they 

 evidently belonged to the genus Gallus, it was 

 even doubted whether they were really fowls. 

 Their supposed specific affinities with the Fire- 

 backed pheasant were even sincerely discussed. 



Of this much lauded fowl Mr. Dixon says : 

 "Whether the breed now under consideration 

 did really come from Cochin or not, is probably 

 known only to the party who imported them, if 

 to him. But they certainly have been cultivated 

 in this country previously to their recent intro- 

 duction to general notice as the most conspicu- 

 ous ornaments of the Royal poultry-yard. A 

 gentleman living in Monmouthshire, informs 

 me that, nearly thirty years ago, a friend sent 

 him a cock and hen of the true 'Java breed.' 

 The cock was so fine, large, and handsome, that 

 he was immediately made ' Cock of the Walk.' 

 The present stock on the farm, which I have 

 seen, are entirely descendants, and are true 

 Cochin fowl ; so that, in this case, Java and 

 Cochin, are synonymous. The first parents of 

 this lot came direct from India. But from 



