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feathers. The black hen-cocks of Wales were thought a fit present 

 for a prince, and Pembrokeshire once challenged all England with 

 them. Hunt brought these black-thornes (hen-cocks) into Somer- 

 setshire, and old cockers used to tell how when there were no 

 roads for carriages, they carried their hen-cocks on horseback to 

 Exeter to fight. It will be seen, therefore, that hennies are an old- 

 established and well-known variety of British game fowl, from 

 which they differ chiefly in length, form and brilliancy of feather, 

 the plumage of the male bird invariably resembling that of the hens, 

 hence the name of hen-cocks or hennies, and the more rounded; 

 short and free from sheen or gloss they are in hackle, cloak, and 

 tail, in short the more hen-feathered they appear in neck, wings, 

 body and tail the more they are entitled to claim purity of breed ; 

 they are generally light in bone, and on that account were never 

 favourite match cocks with the old feeders at the ' Cockpit Eoyal,' 

 who preferred cocks with more bone, having light corky bodies that 

 appeared larger than their actual weight in the scales ; although 

 this was sometimes more than compensated for in the hen-cock's 

 watchful eye, wary posture and sudden rapid onslaught, in fact, 

 like the famous Cheshire Piles, they seem to have an hereditary 

 style of fighting peculiarly their own. It is an undoubted fact 

 that hen-cocks generally get the first fly, and being invariably good 

 heeled cocks frequently crippled or wounded .their antagonist, which 

 being effected they were seldom slow to finish. It is admitted this 

 frequently occurs through the apparent apathy of their opponents, 

 who appear disconcerted by their feminine appearance and are 

 unable to decide whether their mission is one of love or war, until 

 pierced with the silver spur. During a long and extensive 

 experience with these birds, I have seen scores of cocks crip- 

 pled and not a few killed outright before assuming a fighting 

 attitude, while totally off their guard, and even whilst mantling, 

 their death thrust has come upon them sudden as an electric 

 shock. Nothing equals the first dash of two hen-cocks when pitted; 

 we have seen both stone dead within thirty seconds of leaving the 

 setters' hands — an almost incredible fact to those who have wit- 

 nessed the violent struggles and muscular contortions of fowls for 

 minutes after decapitation. Fast and furious as they fight a win- 

 ning battle or kill a sinking cock, they are frequently found wanting 

 in stamina or physique to finish or win in a long and severe contest 

 thus proving their further resemblance to hens in constitution as 



