164 BOMBAY DUCKS 
the ladies for gaily-coloured husbands, Each cock does 
his utmost to secure a goodly harem of hens. In order 
to gratify his ambition he must be of gallant appear- 
ance, of winning manners, and a good fighter. The 
former qualities enable him to obtain wives and the last 
to retain them when once secured. 
The Rabbi Jochanan says: “ Had the law never been 
given us, we might still have learned politeness from 
the cock, who is fair spoken to the female in order to 
win her. ‘I will buy thee a dress,’ he whispers in the 
hen’s ear, ‘a dress that shall reach down to the very 
ground.’ And when the victory is achieved, he shakes 
his head solemnly and cries, ‘May my comb perish if, 
when I have the means, I do not keep my word.’” 
If the cock and hen birds differ in appearance, they 
exhibit still greater diversity in character. The cock is 
a warrior, valiant, careful of his honour, hot-tempered, 
albeit prudent, proud, and vain. The hen is the type of 
good-tempered bourgeoisie, humble, prone to cackle, 
subservient to her husband, foolish, and affectionate. 
The carefulness with which she bruises every grain of 
corn, lest it should hurt the soft palates of her chicks, 
the way in which she teaches her children to scrape the 
ground to make it yield up its good things, the tender 
manner in which she gathers her brood under her wings, 
and her anxiety and solicitude if one stray from her,. 
are among the most homely and the sweetest sights in 
nature. But it is unnecessary to dilate upon the affec- 
tion of a hen for her chickens; let it suffice that it has 
been made the subject of one of the most beautiful 
similes in the Bible. 
