1903. ] JAPANESE LONG-TAILED FOWLS, 229 
continuous growth, and it is stated that the moult is checked or 
prevented by some means unknown to Europeans. We have seen 
that in Wright’s book the statement is cited that the feathers are 
only moulted once in three years, but this might be a congenital 
peculiarity, whereas the expression used in the ‘ Dictionary of 
Birds’ implies that the moult is prevented by artificial treatment. 
Very definite statements on the question are made in a paper 
by Mr. Basil Hall Chamberlain (“ Note on a Long-tailed Breed 
of Fowls in Tosa,” Trans. Asiatie Soc. Japan, vol. xxvii. 1900), 
for my knowledge of which I have to thank Mr. Frank Finn. 
My. Chamberlain made enquiries on the subject in the country 
from which the breed is obtained, and where presumably it 
originated, but nevertheless his statements are based on the 
assertions of breeders and not on any investigations of his own. 
The following is a summary of his paper :— 
The origin of the breed is not known, but it is believed to be at 
least a hundred years old. It has been produced simply by 
selection of the best specimens; one highly-prized variety, the 
Haku, was produced in this way within the last few years. 
The proper general name for the Long-tailed fowls is Shino- 
wara-td, derived from the village of Shinowara in the province of 
Tosa, east of Kochi the capital. Some are still bred in that place, 
put most now in Kochi itself, whence the majority are exported 
to Kobe and some of the finest to Tokio, but the very finest are 
retained by the producers. 
The following varieties were described to Mr. Chamberlain :— 
Shira-fuji: white head- and body-feathers, tail black as in the 
other varieties. He saw one specimen of this two years old, and 
measured its tail-feathers, which were 73 feet long. Another 
specimen, fourteen months old, had tail-feathers 4 feet long. 
Others have black bodies. Another variety is the Haku, white 
all over with yellow legs; another, Totenko, has red neck- and 
pbody-feathers ; another, Dokiri, has reddish colour mixed with the 
white of the body. All these except the Haku have black tail- 
feathers. 
As great a length as 18 feet has been reached in the tail- 
feathers, but even 12 feet isa rarity. From 7 or 8 to 11 feet is 
the usual length. The feathers grow about 4 inches a month, 
and continue to grow while the bird lives, which may be eight or 
nine years. The beautiful body-feathers growing from the 
shoulders reach a length of 4 feet. (Vote.—This evidently refers 
to the saddle-hackles, which grow not from the shoulders but from 
the top of the rump.) 
Some of these saddle-hackles may fall off in moulting, but the 
tail-feathers never do so. He saw the birds in October 1898 
when moulting, and only the ordinary feathers were gone or 
going, not the long ones. 
He also saw the hen, which was a handsome bird, distantly 
reminding one of a hen-pheasant, with fawn-coloured breast and 
white quill to the delicately-coloured feathers of the back. She, 
