FARM-YARD FOWLS. 



165 



pheasants' walks to the common hens, which 

 are too heavy. When the breed is pure, the 

 plumage of this fowl is quite white, and it is 

 not larger than a pigeon. 



Another variety, the " Chinese Dwarf Fowl," 

 is smaller than the English dwarf; its plumage 

 is variegated on the diiferent individuals like 

 that of the common breed. The painting of 

 them is frequently to be found on Chinese pa- 

 pers. 



The French also claim a breed of Dwarf 

 fowls, not so small, however, as the English 

 dwarf fowl. Its plumage varies like that of the 

 common breed ; its eggs are not larger than that 

 of the pigeon. 



In Scotland they have a breed of dwarf fowls 

 which are called "Dumpies." "The London 

 Times" say the authors of "The Poultry Book," 

 "in an amusing article on the Metropolitan 

 Poultry Show of 1852, questioned the posses- 

 sion by these birds of any more valuable quali- 

 ties than the facility with which they might be 

 stowed away in a sauce-pan. But Mr. Fairlie, 

 of Cheverly Park, the only person, we believe, 

 into whose hands they have yet passed, has re- 

 corded so favorable an opinion of their merits as 

 layers and mothers, no less than for the table, 

 that we shall be much surprised if, either in 

 their present state, or crossed with other fowls, 

 they fail to prove a useful addition to our poul- 

 try-yards. 



" Mr. Fairlie obtained his birds from Scot- 

 land; but all his inquiries have hitherto been 

 unable to trace their origin in, or importation 

 into, that country. Their general character, 

 however, so closely assimilates to that of the 

 Dorkings, as shown in our illustration, that the 

 probability of their being descendants of birds 

 stinted in their growth by the less genial climate 

 of the northern district of our island, may read- 

 ily be admitted ; and this the more easily, when 

 we remember how many would describe the 

 early ancestors of the Dorking race as ' stumpy, 

 thick-set, white fowls.' 



" For a detail of their several characteristics 

 and points, let us refer to Mr. Fairlie's own 

 words : ' The Scotch Bakies, or Dumpies,' he 

 tells us, ' are a breed of fowls closely resembling 

 the Dorkings in form, symmetry, and quality of 



flesh ; the average weight of the full-grown male 

 bird is from six to seven pounds, and of the hen 

 from five to six pounds ; their legs are singu- 

 larly short, not exceeding two inches in length 

 from the hock joint ; the comb is generally sin- 

 gle, erect, and well serrated; the body round 

 and plump, and the tail ample. As layers they 

 have great merit ; for after filling one nest, if 

 the eggs are removed, they at once take to an- 

 other, filling that also before they sit, during 

 which process they fully justify the oft-repeated 

 remark made at the Metropolitan Exhibition, 

 What excellent sitters they must make! The} 

 cover many more eggs than might be expected 

 from their size, for while on the nest, they ap- 

 pear as if they had been pressed flat upon it. 

 They are gentle and quiet when hatching, and 

 subsequently prove gentle and attentive moth- 

 ers, their short legs enabling the chickens to 

 brood well under them even when standing uj . 

 I have found them perfectly hardy; and their 

 eggs are larger, and the shell a clearer white, 

 than the usual average of an English market 

 egg-'" 



THE PADUAN FOWL. 



In the "Poultry Book," under the head of 

 " Fowls Recently Imported," we find the follow- 

 ing : " About twenty years since, a sitting of eggs 

 was obtained from a ship's captain in London, 

 who had imported the fowls by whom they were 

 produced, though from what country can not 

 now be ascertained. From these chickens a 

 race of fowls has been kept up unstained by the 

 admixture of any other breed ; and birds from 

 this stock have for some years been in the pos- 

 session of the Rev. T. A. Holland, of Sussex. 

 Several indications of the probability of their 

 proving a distinct breed were noticed by that 

 gentleman, and their features and general char- 

 acter were therefore carefully noted by him, ns 

 also Mr. H. Hinxman, to whom we are indebted 

 for the following description : 



" My friend Mr. Holland's Paduans have no- 

 thing whatever to do with those of Aldrovan- 

 dus. The breed is one of those I mentioned 

 to you as bein under my experimental consid- 

 eration as a practical and useful variety for gen- 

 eral purposes. I like them much, and believe 



