THE 



Jtaturaltst's Cafcmet 



CHAP. I. 



" The cock, that is the trumpet of the morn, 

 Doth, with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat. 

 Awake the god of day ; and at his warning, 

 Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air, 

 Th' extravagant and guilty spirit hies 

 To his confine." 



SHAKESPEARE. 



THE COCK. 



Introductory remarks. 



THIS brave and majestic bird in his pre- 

 sent state of domesti cation, differs so exceed- 

 ingly from his wild original, as to render 

 it difficult to trace him back to his primitive 

 stock. According to the accounts of various 

 travellers, he is still found in a state of nature in 

 the forests of India, and in most of the islands 

 of the Indian seas. Sonnini asserts, that he has 

 seen wild cocks in the immense forests which 

 cover the interior of Guiana, which exhibited 



