ASIATIC FOWLS. 



113 



Let their lovers and admirers be content with 

 this, and with the good qualities which, by uni- 

 versal consent, are awarded them. It is use- 

 less for them to ask more, as the public has al- 

 ready decided the value of them, and they have 

 passed from ridiculous to rational prices. They 

 have also suffered the fate of all favorites and 

 fashions ; they have had their day. Let, then, 

 the Brahmas have their turn, and reign if they 

 deserve it ; they will never attain the height of 

 their predecessors, nor will any other; but do 

 not seek to take from them " their local habit- 

 ation and their name." 



An English writer is wonderfully mistaken 

 when he says " the American (Brahma) birds 

 are crossed with the Malay." No mixture is so 

 easy to detect as this ; there is a character in 

 Malay fowls which belong to no other, and the 

 slightest of it is immediately visible to a prac- 

 ticed eye. The feather, the carriage, tail, and 

 head of Malays are different from any others, 

 and so different, that the veriest tyro will rec- 

 ognize them when grafted on any other stock. 



If they were Cochins, they would not have 

 the pea-combs nor the deep breasts. If they 

 were crossed with the Malay, they would have 

 drooping tails, small bodies, hard plumage, and 

 cruel faces. If they were crossed with Dork- 

 ings they would have ample tails, five claws, and 

 clean legs. These are the accusations, and the 

 birds in question have no points to bear them out. 



What are they then? They are Brahmas, 

 large heavy birds, symmetrical, prolific, and 

 hardy ; living where Shanghais would starve ; 

 growing in frost and snow, when hatched in 

 winter months ; and without seeking to christen 

 a mania, they are standing on their own merits, 

 with the conviction they will deserve well of the 

 public. 



In speaking of various breeds of fowls Mr. G. 

 B. Smith says, "As regards the Brahmas and 

 gray Shanghai fowls, I think there is a great dif- 

 ference between the two ; I have raised them 

 both for several years, and greatly prefer the 

 Brahmas. They lay a third larger egg than the 

 Shanghai, and are the best fowl for any one de- 

 siring eggs in the winter. Their eggs sometimes 

 weigh from 3 to 4| ounces each, whereas those 

 of the Shanghai seldom reach over 2 or 2^ 

 H 



ounces. The Brahmas, I think, will lay a great- 

 er weight of eggs in a year than any fowls I am 

 acquainted with; I have bred fowls for over 

 twenty years, and there are none I like better 

 than these. They have improved in size since 

 I first obtained them ; this I think is owing to 

 my changing the cock every year, which I am 

 very particular to do." 



Hide your diminished heads, poor Cochins 

 and Shanghais! No longer will you walk at 

 your ease in leisurely possession, but waddle 

 away and hide in obscurity ; no longer will you 

 claim the distinction of " cock of the walk ;" for 

 you have formidable rivals now, and any one 

 may see that, 



"As eager runs the market crowd, 

 When ' stop the thief resounds abroad," 



so will the taste of the fancy go after the Brah- 

 mas ; those large, showy, beautiful birds, which 

 every one seems to take on credit, are certainly 

 capital specimens of the feathered race. " If," as 

 the spirited author of the "Pentalogue" hints, 

 " they are only the result of American invention, 

 they have invented a very nice fowl. And if 

 the Americans made them, I can only hope they 

 will go to work again and make us something 

 else." 



The following is a description of two Brahma 

 fowls, a cock and hen, bred by Dr. Bennett, of 

 New Hampshire, and sold to Dr. Gwinne, of 

 England : 



" The cock, when drawn up to his full height, 

 measures thirty inches ; the head and eye have 

 much of the Malay character ; the neck is full ; 

 the back is very short ; and falling rapidly from 

 the bottom of the neck to the insertion of the 

 tail ; the thigh and shank long ; but the breast 

 is fairly developed, decidedly more so than in 

 most Malay specimens. The face, wattle.s, and 

 ear-lobes, the latter of considerable size, are 

 brilliant crimson, similar in point of color to 

 the face and crest of the silver pheasant ; the 

 beak short and yellow ; comb small, depressed, 

 and studded with numerous points or sprigs.. 

 American fanciers compare it to the pea-comb 

 of the ' Sumatra pheasant Game fowl,' though 

 of the bird thus designated we have no farther 

 notice; hackle full, being streaked with black 

 on a yellowish white ground j. saddle feathers 



