100 THE GOMPLETM POULTBY BOOK. 



of the Amerioan Poultry Association at Buffalo, and at their meeting a petition 

 to admit it to the Standard was referred to a committee, to investigate and re- 

 port. This is the entering wedge for the introduction to poultry breeders of a 

 very rare and beautiful fowl, which was once quite well known in New York 

 state. At the meeting of the New York State Agricultural Society, held in the 

 fall of 1845, the late Mr. Luther Tucker exhibited this fowl. Here is the 

 language of the committee's report on it: 



"' Mr. Tucker introduced to our acquaintance a tall and loving* couple from 

 Java, under the application of Black Javas, and another couple that were. White 

 Javas. They may safely be called giants of the roost, and were propagated by. 

 the children of Anak, in the early days of the world, for the Folauds and Ban- 

 tams of these degenerate times can no more be compared to them than Hyperion 

 lo a Satyr.' (Vol. V., N. Y. S. A. S. Reports, page 94.) 



"Dr. Bennett, in his treatise on poultry, speaking of the Black Javas, says: 

 'These, like all other pure Java fowls, are of a black or auburn color, with very 

 black legs, single combs and wattles. They are good layers, and their eggs are 

 very large and well flavored. Their gait is slow and majestic. They are, iu 

 fact, among the most valuable fowls in the country, and are frequently de- 

 scribed in the books as "Spanish -fowls," than which nothing is more erroneous. 

 They are as distinct and original a breed as the pure-blooded great Malay, and 

 possess about the same qualities as to excellence. Their plumage is decidedly 

 rich.' 



" A strain of this fowl has been preserved pure to the present day, and your 

 correspondent finds them to answer fully the most specific description!! of years 

 ago, when they were largely bred in New York State. They prove good layers, 

 sitters and mothers, and in quick maturity and weight of carcass they are net 

 j.xcelled by any breed. Their plumage is very black— that greenish black which 

 is so beautiful in the sunlight; and, unlike the Asiatics, they are graceful in 

 motion. 



"It will be observed that the report first quoted speaks of WhiU Jimaa. It 

 is one of the peculiarities of the fowl that from these intensely black hens and 

 cocks a perfectly white chick may come. This fact has oome under the per- 

 .sonal observation of your correspondent." 



The Black Javas were for a time delegated by the managers of poultry ex- 

 liibitions to the Cochin class, a fact which caused some amalgamation between 

 them and the Black Cochins, to the partial loss of their distinctive characters. 



The Javas are not yet recognized by the American Standard of Excellence. 



