April 27, 1871. ] 



JOUENAL OP HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



311 



it is spread out before the shooters at luncheon time, and, 

 it there is a hen-oock, what a number of opinions ! The old 

 school recitation of the Chameleon is nothing to it. One says 

 slie never lays; another says she lays but does not sit; ihe 

 ■third says she is among Pheasants what the Cuckoo is among 

 small birds ; the last says she is a hen that, failing to find a 



mate, turned cook in self-defence. Mr. Yarrell and the writer 

 of this made the first dissection of a hen-cock ; the egg-organs 

 were ruptured, the bowels were saturated with yolk, and hence 

 the change. The truth is, when the propensities of one sex are 

 tampered with and destroyed, accidentally or not, they are re- 

 placed by the opposite one. This is the history of your Duck. 



We now submit a few observations on the Jacobin, or, as it 

 js more commonly termed in the "fancy, "the Jack." We 

 shall endeavour to be concise, in order that our remarks may 

 be the more readily comprehended by the uninitiated and the 



THE JACOBIN. 



young fanciers, for whose enlightenment we are mainly striving, 

 and that they may be the means, we hope, of extending the 

 cultivation of this interesting vadety. We shall not attempt 

 to deal with the questions of its origin and the manner in 



which its moat striking characteristics have been produced — 

 namely, the hood and chain, which impart to it such a peculiar 

 and monk-like appearance. 



Taking it as an acknowledged fact that the Rock Dove is the 

 common ancestor of all our domestic Pigeons, we can only 

 express our admiration at the result of the exertions of the 

 fanciers of bygone days, who, by perseverance and careful 

 selection, have produced this among the many unique varieties 

 we now possess, feeling grateful to them for what they have 

 done, and hoping that such evidences of zeal and enthusiasm 

 in the past may be emulated now and in the future, and to- 

 wards no variety is this spirit more wanting than towards the 

 variety to which we are now directing attention. 



Our portrait is that of a Red hen of great merit, fully testi- 

 fied by the many successes she has achieved in the show pen. 



The points of the breed are as follow : — A round head and 

 a short spindle bill, or what a fancier would term short-faced. 

 The eye should be white, or pearl as it is generally called, 



entirely free from blotches, and be surrounded by a small red 

 cere or lash. An orange eye is highly detrimental. The hood 

 should be well developed, and lie flat on the top of the head, 

 the fiill or chain projecting from it being of such a length that 

 when the bird is in " carriage " the eye is nearly hidden by it, 

 and it should meet in front of the chest so closely as to appear 

 to overlap, and the lower it extends the better. The hood, frill, 

 body, and thighs should be of one uniform colour, whether 

 black, yellow, or red, the ten flight feathers of each wing and 

 the tail being white; and as respects the former point, the 

 white should not extend below the bill. In size the bird should 

 be small, with a light and erect carriage, and neat coral legs 

 and feet. 



The colours we place in the following order : — Black, Red, 

 Xellow, and Blue, the first three being as rich and sound 

 as possible. The Blues should correspond to the foregoing 

 remarks, with the exception of the black bar peculiar to al 

 blue Pigeons. We have heard from our late Hon. Secretary 



