THE POULTRY-YARD. 275 



candle. In spite of the intensely combative dis- 

 position of male fowls, under natural circum- 

 stances the fighting instinct is kept within eco- 

 nomic bounds. That is to say, nature never 

 allows it to become so developed as to be in- 

 jurious to the race. 



Darwin has shown that the constant selec- 

 tion of victorious fighting - cocks for breeding 

 purposes may so intensify this trait as to render 

 it very detrimental. He says : — 



Game fowls are notorious for their pugnacity : young 

 cocks crow and clap their little wings and fight obsti- 

 nately, even while under their mother's care. " I have 

 often had," says one author, " whole broods scarcely 

 feathered stone-blind from fighting, and rival couples 

 moping in corners and renewing their battles on obtaining 

 the first ray of light." The weapons and pugnacity of 

 all male gallinaceous birds evidently serve the purpose 

 of gaining possession of the females ; so that the tendency 

 of our game chickens to fight at an extremely early age 

 is not only useless but injurious, and they suffer much 

 from their wounds. The training for battle during an 

 early age may be natural to the wild Gallus baiikiva ; 

 but as man during many generations has gone on 

 selecting the most ostensibly pugnacious cocks, it is 

 more probable that their pugnacity has been unnaturally 

 increased and unnaturally transferred to the young male 

 chickens. 



