54 THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 



larly' beautiful creature ; nothing but a full-sized colored 

 drawing can give an adequate idea of the extremely 

 rich coloring and brilliant lustre of his plumage. It has 

 been mentioned in the previous note that the males of 

 the Bolton greys differ somewhat in the quantity of black 

 or dark grey which they wear ; the hens also very 

 slightly, some having a tendency to linear markings of 

 black and grey, and others to spots of the same colors, 

 but the difference is hardly more than would be seen 

 amongst a brood of chickens reared from the same pair 

 of fowls. The Creole from the south of England was a 

 very well-bred specimen, having the peculiar comb, 

 pointed behind, described and figured by Aldrovandi. 



" The Bolton-bay cock, from Lancashire, has a large 

 very double comb pointed behind upwards, flat on the 

 top, but covered with small upright points ; the wattles 

 are large, and there is a small white ear patch. The 

 bill is short and lead-colored ;' feet and legs also lead- 

 colored. Irides orange-brown. The hackle is composed 

 of a mixture of brown, black, yellow, and green ; back 

 the same, only darker. Tail, black glossed with green, 

 and having grey down at the base of the feathers. 

 Quills of the wings, chestnut ; wing coverts, metallic 

 black ; breast and under part of the body, black." 



The golden and silver Hamburgh, when pure bred, 

 are commonly looked upon as "everlasting layers," but 

 no strictly universal rule that will apply without fail to 

 every case, can be laid down for fowls any more than 

 for quadrupeds or men. The term " everlasting" re- 

 ceives its name from the circumstance that the hens, if 

 properly fed, and kept in a warm situation protected 

 against the cold, will continue to lay throughout the whole 

 of the year, or nearly so, and thus afford an unfailing 

 supply of eggs. In general, fowls after laying for a cer- 

 tain length of time become " broody" — they cease to 

 lay, and evince an uncontrollable desire, an instinctive 

 propensity to devote themselves to the task of incuba- 

 tion. They are impelled by the law of nature, which 

 urges them to this essential mode of continuing their 

 race; but in the present breedf in which the' season of 



