CHANTICLEER 199 



still weak and shaky, but in shape it was similar, 

 and the change had come while its brethren were 

 still uttering brief and harsh screeches as at the 

 beginning. Probably, where there is a great mixture 

 of varieties, it is the same with the fowl as with man 

 in the diversity of the young, different ancestral 

 characters appearing in different members of the 

 same family. This cockerel was apparently the musi- 

 cal member, and promised in a short time to rival 

 his neighbour. Having heard that it was intended 

 to keep one of the cockerels to be the parent of 

 future broods, I began to wonder whether the prize 

 in the lottery — ^to wit, life and a modest harem — 

 would fall to this fine singer or not. The odds were 

 that his musical career would be cut short by an early 

 death, since the ten birds were very much alike 

 in other respects, and I felt perfectly sure that his 

 superior note would weigh nothing in the balance. 

 For when has the character of the voice influenced 

 a fancier in selecting S" Never I believe, odd as it 

 seems. I have read a very big book on the various 

 breeds of the fowl, but the crowing of the cock was 

 not mentioned in it. This would not seem so strange 

 if fanciers had invariably looked solely to utility, 

 and their highest ambition had ended at size, weight 

 and quality of flesh, early maturity, hardihood, 

 and the greatest number of eggs. This has not been 

 the case. They possess, like others, the love of the 



