ASTATIC FOWLS. 



105 



SHANGHAI FOWL. 



with an expression tempering the whole of moth- 

 erly patience and contentment. The neck about 

 eight inches long, and should he gently arched 

 when held upright, and the head held at right 

 angles with it. The body, from the neck to the 

 origin of the tail feathers, should be long and 

 greatly arched ; and the girth of the body, meas- 

 uring over the wings and before the legs, should 

 be, in the best specimens, about twenty inches. 

 Wings well rounded outward, so as to increase 

 the apparent diameter of the body ; their shoul- 

 der well nestled in beneatli the breast feathers, 

 and the quill feathers short, buried under the 

 mass of feathers which encompass the base of 

 the tail. This mass of feathers is very peculiar, 

 arching from the back to the tail, and sloping 

 off so as to form a slight elevation round the 

 sides, as it does round the base of the tail. The 

 leg is rather long ; color pale yellow with a tinge 

 of flesh-color, and generally thickly feathered 

 quite down to the toe on the outer side. The 



plumage is remarkably soft and silky, or rather 

 doAvny, termed by some as fluffy, and beneath 

 the tail densely fluffy and rounded. We have 

 chosen the hen as being most uniform in her 

 make and coloring. The eggs are generally of 

 a pale yellow or cinnamon color, not remarka- 

 bly large compared with the size of the fowl, and 

 generally blunt or rounded at both ends. The 

 fertile qualities of this breed are considered 

 equal to any other of the large breeds. The 

 flesh of the Shanghai is rather inferior to the 

 smaller breeds, being coarse-grained, neither 

 tender nor juicy, and have more offal and less 

 breast-meat than either the Cochins or Brahmas. 

 Their habits are quiet and they are not inclined 

 to ramble, on which account they bear confine- 

 ment better than any other breed. 



The gait of both the cock and hen, when 

 walking slowly, is peculiarly precise and digni- 

 fied and graceful, but when hurrying, it is a heavy 

 rolling waddle. 



