GAME FOtTL. 37 



There is a generally recogniaed standard for form and figure, 

 which must not be departed from, whatever variety of color the 

 birds may present. In weight they vary; four pounds eight or 

 ten ounces was the weight aimed at by the breedersf or the cook- 

 pit, but six pounds is often reached, when two years old; but 

 beyond this weight impurity of blood may be suspected. 



The carriage and form of the Ganje cook are certainly more 

 beautiful than that of any other variety of domestic fowl. T^he 

 neck is long, strong and gracefully curved; the hackle "short and 

 very close; the breast broad; the back short, broad across the 

 shoulders; the whole body very firm and hard, with a perfectly 

 straight breast and back, the latter taperiiig -toward the tail; the 

 wings large and powerful, and carried closely pressed into the 

 sides; the thighs strong, muscular and short, tightly clothed with 

 feathers, and well set forward on the body, so as to be available 

 for fighting; the shanks rather long, strong but not sparse, cov- 

 ered with fine scales; the feet flat and thiij, the toes long and 

 spreading, so as to give a good hold on the ground; the hind toe 

 must be set low down, so as to rest flatly on the ground, and not 

 merely touch with the point— a defect which- is known as "duck- 

 footed," and renders the bird unsteady when pushed backward 

 by his opponent. 



The plumage is compact, hard and mail-like to a remarkable 

 degree, and possesses a brilliant glossiness that cannot be sur- 

 passed. The tail in the cock is rather long, the sickle feathers 

 gracefully arched and carried closely together, the whole tail 

 curved backward and not brought forward over the back — a 

 defect called squirrel-tailed. 



The head is extremely beatitiful, being thin and long, like that 

 of a greyhound; the beak massive at its root, strong, and well 

 (iurved; the eye large, very full, and brilliant in lustrej the ear- 

 lobe and face of a bright scarlet, and the comb, in undubbed 

 biida fiinglek erect, and thin. The spur, which is exceedingly 



