EUROPEAN BREEDS, 143 
weight is from five to six pounds. The hen, when pure 
bred, has the head gray; comb and face bright red; 
hackle silvery gray, with dark stripes; the breast is 
bright salmon-red ; the back and shoulder coverts should 
be slaty-gray, free from penciling; the tail is dark gray, 
so dark as to be nearly black ; the fluff inside is a steel 
gray, and the legs yellow. In breeding Duck-wings for 
color, much care and skill is necessary ; for the ordinary 
uses of poultry it is not necessary to do more than select 
the best birds, feed well, and keep them in the best and 
most vigorous health. Unfortunately for game poultry, 
their courage and endurance has been put to wrong uses, 
and through their enforced connection with the brutal 
and cruel sports of the cock-pit, they have in a measure 
come to be identified therewith, and are wrongly sup- 
posed to be good for nothing but fighting. On the con- 
trary, the Game fowl] is one of the most, if not the most, 
beautiful of our fowls. It is the best table fowl, so far 
as regards quality and flavor of flesh. Its eggs are ex- 
ceedingly rich, and much desired for pastry or cakes. 
The cock is courageous, and will not hesitate to attack 
the hawk, and will defeat the intruder in every attempt 
to ravage the poultry yard. The hen is an excellent 
mother, and although somewhat nervous and excitable 
when brooding her chickens, yet with care and quiet, 
gentle treatment she may be handled with ease. While 
brooding, she is as courageous as the cock, and will de- 
fend her chickens from a hawk, and generally with suc- 
cess. A farmer whose grain fields, and those of his 
neighbors, offer a too tempting foraging ground for these 
active fowls, would be wise to choose some of the heavier 
bodied breeds ; but where no damage of this kind can 
occur, any of the varieties of Game fowls might be chosen 
by those who fancy them, and wish for delicious eggs 
and flesh. 
