POULTBY. 129 



weight of a full-grown bird is from ten to twelve pounds, 

 while a few have weighed more. The hen agrees in general 

 character with that of her liege lord, but is two or three pounds 

 lighter. 



The legs of both sexes should be yellow, though we have 

 seen some very fine white birds with a greenish-blue leg, and 

 superior black ones with dark legs. 



The principal sub-varieties of the Shanghai family are the 

 White, the Buff, the Cinnamon, the Partridge-colored, the Gray, 

 or Brahmapootra of a few writers, the Dominique, and the 

 Black. 



About ten years ago there raged among our fowl fanciers a 

 most alarming Shanghai fever. It had its " run," and its vic- 

 tims mostly survived. We presume they will never have a 

 second attack. 



We can not advise our readers to breed Shanghai fowls, and 

 regret being obliged to mention them at all. 



8. The Cochin China Fowl, etc. A missionary in China 

 says: "There is no difference at all between the Shanghais 

 and Cochin Chinas. In reality they all are Shanghais. Coch- 

 in Chinese fowls are a small, inferior kind, not equal to the 

 natives of the United States, and it is not believed that any 

 have ever been taken to America ;" and the editors of the 

 " Poultry Book," lately published in London, quote from a let- 

 ter they received from Mr. Robert Fortune, who has passed 

 many years in various parts of China, as follows : " I firmly 

 believe that what are called * Cochin Chinas' and ' Shanghais' 

 are one and the same. 



Whether this testimony should be considered conclusive or 

 not we leave the reader to judge, and believing none of the un- 

 couth, awkward, and coarse-grained Asiatic fowls desirable, we 

 herewith dismiss them. 



9. The Bantam Fowl. The Bantam is the smallest specimen 

 of fowl, and may with propriety be called the Tom Thumb of 

 the gallinaceous tribe, and stands comparatively, in size, to the 

 Malay and Cochin fowl as that of the noble and stately Dur- 



C* 



