154 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



TUB CKEKPEB OB DWARF FOWL. 



any of those who have read our pages to give 

 them a fair trial, we shall feel that our labors 

 have not been in vain, and assured of eventual 

 assent to all we have said in their favor. 



THE CREEPER OR DWARF FOWL. 



This variety is described by some authors as 

 not larger than a pigeon, and differs from the 

 Bantam chiefly in size and in the shortness of 

 its legs. It is found occasionally in our farm- 

 yards, and is considered less troublesome in 

 gardens. The shortness of its legs prevents 

 too free use of them on new-made beds. In 

 size it is generally below the common fowl of 

 the country. 



The " Acoho," a native of Madagascar, is de- 

 scribed as very small, with a circle of feathers 

 about the legs, a thick tail, which it carries 

 straight, and the ends of the wings black. Other 

 varieties, said to come from Cambodia and now 

 found in the Philippine Islands, have the legs 

 so short as to drag the wings on the ground. 



In addition to these, Buffon mentions a sort 

 of fowl in Brittany which are always obliged t< > 

 leap, the legs being so short. They are the size- 

 of the barn-yard fowl, and kept as being very 

 profitable. The hens, it is said, will hatch thirty 

 eggs at a time. Some think these dwarf fowls 

 are the "Adrian" breed, mentioned by Pliny. 

 Aristotle speaks in the highest terms of the fe- 

 cundity of these dwarf fowls : " They lay," says 

 he, "every day, and sometimes two eggs a 

 day." 



Aldrovandus, two thousand years ago, de- 

 scribed the dwarf hen as all black, except the 

 quill-feathers on the wings, which are white ar 

 the ends, with some chestnut-like spots on the 

 neck, and a yellow spot around the eye. The 

 comb small and dark colored; the feet yellow- 

 ish ; the claws equal and very white. He said 

 nothing about the cock. 



A very small dwarf fowl has been greatly 

 multiplied in England, because it is very fruit- 

 ful, and excellent for sitting; it is preferred in 



