103 



DOMESTIC ANLUJlLi. 



feather is divided by bare evenly arranged, of alternate white and gold 

 color. Like the spangled, tliey are divided into golden and silver for the 

 same reason — the ground-color of the plumage. In all these birds, exact- 

 ness of the markings is a great point. 



The Black Harnburg. — This is a very beautiful variety, being of a 

 brilliant black, with metallic luster. The brilliancy of the plumage, 

 contrasted with the coral-red of the spiked comb and the white ear- 

 lobes, renders this fowl so attractive in appearance, that we cannot help 

 wondering that it is not more general, particularly as, like all the Ham- 

 burgs, it is an excellent layer. 



TUE DORKING FOWL. 



The Dorking Fowl. — The Dorking would appear to owe its name to its 

 having been chiefly bred in a town- of Surry, of the same appellation. 

 That the peculiarity of five toes, or, in other words, of two hind toes 

 instead of one, is to be regarded as a distinctive character of the breed, 

 is by some writers questioned, and by otkers wholly denied. For my 

 part, I should say, that whenever this characteristic is absent, a cross 

 has been at work. 



I do not, however, mean to assert that this possession of two hind 

 toes instead of one, has never occurred in any other family of fowl ex- 

 cept those bred at Dorking, in Surry, for Aristotle has mentioned the 

 existence of a. similar peculiarity among certain fowl in Greece, and both 

 Columella and Pliny assert the existence of such in their time in Italy, 

 so also does Aldrovand ; and these authors lived hundreds of years ago ; 

 and, oddly enough, these breeds were remarkable, as are our own Dork- 

 ing, for being good layers and good sitters. 



The color of the Dorking is usually pure white, or spotted or span- 

 gled with black; these colors sometimes merge into a gray or grizzle. 

 The hens weigh from seven to nine pounds ; stand low on their legs ; 



