THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 6l 



least,) but even to mislead inquirers, those who cultivat 

 natural history for its own sake, will not be justified i: 

 arriving at hasty conclusions from such information. 



" We are at once struck with surprise*at the impu 

 dence of the Sebright Bantams. Oh ! the consequent 

 little atom ! That such a contemptible minikin as tha 

 should have the assurance to parade his insignifican 

 person in the presence of great ladies, the female mem 

 bers of families of weight and substance, before th 

 Misses, and still worse, the Mistresses Dorking, Cochin 

 China, and Malay, to presume to show marked attentioi 



nay even, I declare ! to . Well, there is no know 



ing to what lengths impudence will go, so long as Bar 

 tarns survive extermination. 



"Here is a little whipper-snapper ! Pretty, certainl] 

 and smart, but shamefully forward in his ways. Hi 

 coat is of a rich, brownish-yellow; almost every feathe 

 is edged with a border of a darker hue, approaching t 

 black. His neat, slim legs are of a light, dull-lead color 

 his ample tail is carried well over his back. His de 

 pendent wings nearly touch the ground. He is as up 

 right as the stifFest drill Serjeant, or more so, for h 

 appears now and then as if he would fall backward: 

 like a horse that over-rears himself. His full, rose com 

 and deep-depending wattles are plump and red; bu 

 their disproportionate size affords a most unfortunat 

 hold for the beak of his adversary ; but he cares not fo 

 that ; a little glory is worth a good deal of pecking an 

 pinching, and it is not a slight punishment, nor a merel 

 occasional infliction of it that will make him give ir 

 The great hens, too, that look down upon him, and ove 

 him, think proper to do battle with him on a first intro 

 duction, though they afterwards find out that they migh 

 as well have received him in a more feminine style.' — 

 Dixon. 



The plumage of the hens is similar to thai of th 

 cocks. They are very good layers, most excellent sit 

 ters, assiduous and affectionate mothers, but most mur 

 derous step-mothers ; that is, if you attempt to change 

 or add to, the number of the brood they have hatchei 



