252 The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 



the flavour is far inferior to Cochin or Brahma eggs, the yolk being smaller in proportion, and 

 rather insipid, the chief bulk being made up of albumen or white. On the other hand, this very- 

 absence of flavour causes their eggs to be preferred by many invalids and other persons of delicate 

 appetite. The pullets usually lay at or before six months old, and will continue through the 

 winter, but the hens rarely begin till January ; after which however they rarely stop more than a 

 day or two until the autumnal moult. The appetite being only moderate, and the birds bearing 

 confinement well, and never giving trouble by any sitting propensities, they make a very useful 

 and profitable variety for urban or suburban poultry-keepers, who wish for a fowl which combines 

 with these qualities an always creditable appearance. Perhaps no breed will answer these 

 conditions better than the Spanish, with the added possibility of enabling their owner to exhibit 

 with credit, even though very small space be at his command. 



Though non-sitters, instances occasionally happen, when kept at large so that hens can "steal 

 their nests," of Spanish hens brooding steadily, and bringing off good clutches of chickens ; but we 

 never knew this occur under any other circumstances. This fact throws a curious light on the 

 probable origin of non- incubating breeds, which it is most likely were gradually formed by the 

 regular abstraction of eggs postponing the gratification of the maternal instinct, and thus lessening 

 it, till by degrees it was lost altogether. It might be objected to such a theory, that if it be the 

 correct one, every breed of domestic poultry kept in confinement for eggs alone ought to show a 

 regular decrease in incubation ; but the reply would be that very often at least this really is the 

 case. Amongst many letters received during years of correspondence, which testify undesignedly 

 )'et directly to this fact, we may mention, as the most striking, one from a large breeder of Light 

 Brahmas in the United States, who wrote as his decided opinion that " with a very little care the 

 tendency to sit might be easily diminished, or even bred out of them altogether ;" adding as proof 

 the fact, that whilst the birds he started with showed the usual propensity to sit rather often, this 

 had grown less and less, till during the season before his letter he had hardlj' been able to find a 

 sitter amongst a large flock. Be this as it may, whenever a Spanish hen does steal her nest, she 

 usually makes a good mother. Although we never knew a case ourselves, we once heard of one 

 well authenticated, in which a hen sat and reared a brood even in strict confinement ; but we 

 believe the same hen had stolen a nest the previous year, which had probably re-awakened and 

 developed the dormant instinct. It is by no means uncommon for Spanish hens to remain on the 

 nest for a day or two, with an occasional cluck, and other signs of uneasiness ; but even for the few 

 days it lasts the sitting is usually unsteady, and the inclination soon passes off. The great 

 majority never show any inclination to sit at all. 



Spanish fowls are pretty good eating, but the flesh generally eats rather dry. They are not 

 liandsome on the table, the breast-bone almost always projecting sharply, so as to make the fowl 

 appear thin, and the black legs being also an objection. This breed does not, in fact, lay on meat 

 readily upon the breast ; and for table purposes must therefore be regarded as only a good second- 

 rate fowl, by no means equal to either the Dorking, the French breeds, or the Asiatic races. This, 

 and certain points to be attended to in exhibition, are well stated in the following sentences, from 

 Mr. Hewitt, with which our discussion of this variety may be concluded : — 



"Well-bred Spanish fowls, when seen in high condition and plumage, are commonly regarded 

 as being the most aristocratic in appearance of any variety of our domestic poultry ; but to ensure 

 this they must have a considerable amount of careful attention, and a suitable run. When thus 

 circumstanced they are e.\cellent layers. As table fowls, however, they do not hold a high rank, 

 the flesh being not as highly flavoured as that of many other breeds. Although when full of eggs 

 or on the point of laying, both the pullets and the hens are weighty in the hand, Spanish fowls aie 



