CRESTED FOWLS. 



171 



" One word as to the country whence these 

 fowls have been brought. Since I first saw the 

 Ptarmigans of S. F. Smyth, Esq. (who bought 

 from Dr. Burney), and from which my chickens, 

 that took the prize at the recent show at Plymp- 

 ton, Avere bred, two gentlemen of this neighbor- 

 hood have had brought to them fowls of the 

 same description from Constantinople. Captain 

 T. Russell, now commander of the well-known 

 Himalaya, recently in the Black Sea, early in 

 the present year (1854) brought home three 

 fowls purchased in the Constantinople market 

 which are clearly the same sort as Dr. Bumey's 

 Ptarmigans, and Mr. Blackwell, of Stoke, Dev- 

 onport, had sent him some of the same descrip- 

 tion in return to a request to a friend, not a 

 poultry-fancier, to send him home some of the 

 ordinary fowls of the Bosphorus." 



" When the Ptarmigans made their debut last 

 season," says a writer in the Poultry Chronicle, 

 " every one was asking, 'What are their merits ?' 

 but from want of certain facts to go upon, a sat- 

 isfactory answer was not returned to the query. 

 I now, however, send you the doings of four 

 hens of mine, extracted from my egg-book, giv- 

 ing the number of eggs laid by them from the 

 1st of April to 27th of May. And I am quite 

 content to leave it to you to decide whether the 

 product, added to their extreme beauty, does 

 not entitle them to a higher rank than that of 

 mere 'fancy fowls.' I may add, that my expe- 

 rience leads me to place them among the non- 

 sitting varieties. My four hens laid in April, 

 90, and up to May 27, 89 eggs; total, in fifty- 

 nine days, 179 eggs!" 



THE DOMINIQUE, OR CUCKOO POLAND. 



This is a handsome bird, but as yet hardly 

 known in England. " The best specimens," say 

 the writers of the "Poultry Book," "we are 

 aware of are limited to the yard of Mr. Viv- 

 ian, the well-known cultivator of the Polish va- 

 rieties. The blending of the different shades 

 of gray, that form the cuckoo plumage, is here 

 most delicately displayed. The hens are wholly 

 of this feathering ; but in the cock it is seen on 

 the breast only, white predominating on their 

 backs, wings, and tails. They are bearded, and 

 have top-knots nearly white. 



" What we have termed the Gray, or Grizzled 

 Poland, has the plumage of the Penciled Ham- 

 burgs in their relative sexes, but without the 

 clearness that would be insisted on with the lat- 

 ter breed. They are heavily bearded, with top- 

 knots of full dimensions, and, from their uni- 

 form appearance and very robust form, are at- 

 tractive objects in any poultry-yard. 



"The pair that we now possess came from a 

 clergyman near Bridport, who has bred them for 

 twelve years without crying back in the chick- 

 ens a strong test of a pure descent ; which, from 

 their manifest resemblance to the feathering of 

 the Penciled Hamburgs, might possibly be called 

 in question. 



" The two next varieties that stand on our 

 list the Black and White Speckled, and the 

 Blue with White Top-knots we have never 

 seen ; but they have been noticed on the Con- 

 tinent by one of our best Polish fanciers. 



"The Yellow-spangled Poland is probably 

 the most beautiful of its class ; and here, as 

 with the Cuckoos, we are indebted to Mr. Viv- 

 ian, who introduced them into this country. 



"In both sexes the top-knot and beard are 

 white, with a very slight admixture of yellow 

 feathers. The cock's hackle, back, and wings 

 are yellow, with occasional white feathers ; the 

 tail yellow and white, with a preponderance of 

 the latter; but his breast is yellow, perfectly 

 spangled with white, which is also the case with 

 the hen's neck, bieast, and back ; her wings are 

 yellow, the wing-coverts laced with white, the 

 tail feathers being also similarly tipped. 



"The extreme softness of the bearded Po- 

 land's feathers is very remarkable in this varie- 

 ty. The plumes on the higher part of the shaft 

 especially, rivaling in texture the softest floss- 

 silk. 



" Here, also, we have an example of our pre- 

 vious remark, that Polands go on improving in 

 plumage, as well as size, till the third or even 

 the fourth year; since, in these yellow-spangled 

 birds, their more delicate tints are but imper- 

 fectly developed in their first season, the beard 

 especially remaining of a pale-dun color, and 

 the top-knot of a still darker tint ; and this im- 

 provement is continued till the full period we 

 have before mentioned." 



