80 THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 



never become of great utility, except to cross with the 

 common or the game fowl, to the farmer." 



The Dominique, or Dominica Fowl. — This is the 

 name of a beautiful variety, very common, at present, 

 in the New- York markets, and is highly esteemed for 

 its laying and breeding qualities, as well as for the 

 excellent flavor of its flesh and eggs. Both the males 

 and the females are of a medium size, rather long- 

 bodied, having yellow legs and feet, single or double 

 combs, and with or without copplecrowns. Their 

 general plumage is of a light-grey color, each feather 

 barred crosswise by bands of a darker shade, which 

 gives them a beautiful pheasant-like appearajice, as 

 they are paraded in the farmyard, or confined in a crate. 

 The hackles on the necks and backs of the cocks are 

 often variegated with gold yellow, or reddish-brown. 



The Blue Dun Fowl. — This breed, at present in 

 vogue in Dorsetshire, England, is under the average 

 size, and rather slenderly made, of a soft and pleasing 

 bluish-dun color, the neck being darker, with high, 

 single, deeply-serrated combs. The cock is of the 

 same color as the hen, but has in addition some hand- 

 some dark stripes in the long feathers of the tail, and 

 sometimes a few golden, and even scarlet marks on 

 the wings, which, by the contrast, give the bird a very 

 exotic look. 



The blue duns are represented as exceedingly fa- 

 miliar, impudent, and pugnacious ; so much so, that 

 it is suspected, also from their shape, they have a dash 

 of game blood in their veins. 



The hens are good layers, wanting to sit after pro- 

 ducing a moderate number of eggs, and proving atten- 

 tive and careful rearers of their own chickens, but 

 rather savage to those of other hens. The eggs are 

 small and short, tapering slightly at one" end, and are 

 perfectly white. 



The hackles of the cock are always in great re- 

 quest, in England, for making artificial flies for fishing. 



If kept perfectly unmixed with any other fowl, one 



