British Game (Old Style). 
247 
are good layers of well-flavoured eggs, of fair size, and lovely delicate colour, and as a mother she has no 
equal, defending her brood in the most stubborn and determined manner, and foraging for them with 
unflagging energy. In appearance the bird should be smart and lively looking, vigorous, and strong ; hard 
and close in feather, and firm in flesh— the cocks weighing from 5 to 6^ lbs., the hens weighing from 
4 to 5 lbs. Those mostly exhibited are Black-Reds, Spangles, Duns, Brown-Reds,- Piles, Birchens, 
and Duckwings, and in breeding them the same rule applies as to the modern Fowl, with this difference, that 
the Black-Breasted Red cock may be darker in colour in hackle and back, and in both sexes the legs are 
preferred white. In rearing the chickens, it is imperative that ample space is at command, and under any 
circumstances, the earlier in the season they are hatched the better, and it may be accepted as a general 
rule that the eggs laid by the hen in the first part of her laying season will produce more vigorous and larger 
chickens than those laid later, and will, at the same time, yitld a far greater percentage of cockerels. Late- 
hatched Game chickens rarely attain the size and vigour of the earlier hatched ones. 
Cock-fighting. 
For the first authentic notice of cock-fighting in the Australasian Colonies we are indebted to the 
Australian, a newspaper published in Sydney sixty-eight years ago, which reports a main of cocks having 
been fought. This is fully described in the columns of the above paper, dated May, 1830 (and should 
definitely silence the statements made by various Australian writers, " that there were no Game Fowls in the 
Colonies prior to 1850"). It reads: "A main of nine cocks a-side was fought at Macquarie Fort on 
Saturday, for a sporting wager of one hundred pounds a-side. Two cocks fought very formidably for 
three-quarters of an hour. The battle was decided by five against four. The birds were pitted by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Allen and Major Poole respectively. Oatley and Bogg handled the cocks." This was 
during the time of Governor Darling, and throws a powerful side-light on Sydney social life of the time, and 
again is conclusive evidence that Game Fowls were kept and bred for sport, even in the earliest days of the 
Colony. 
Up to within a quarter of a century back cock-fighting in Australia was an established form of 
amusement and sport, indulged in to a great extent, but of late years has almost died out, the risks and 
difficulties surrounding the holding of a " main," as it is called, effectually quelling the ardour of the " Pit's " 
supporters. At the .same time, the " Game " is carried on to a Hmited extent among the staunch adherents 
of the old-time fighting Fowl ; but the ranks of the old patrons of the sport becoming thinner and thinner 
each year, there is a very remote prospect of the revival of cock-fighting in this country, more especially as 
our laws make it an illegal act to pit two cocks together. The sport is carried on to a marvellous extent in 
the U.S. of America, taking rank with some of the more prominent sporting fixtures, the various strains and 
sub-strains of Pit Game Fowls being legion. In Cuba, Mexico, San Domingo, and the adjacent islands 
cock-fighting is the principal diversion. It is stated that the Indian's idea of Paradise is one vast cock-pit. 
At the " mains " the native is seen in his full glory. Even the Chinese residents are enthusiastic cock- 
fighters, and sportsmen to a man. The sport takes place on Sundays and holidays, the amounts lost 
and won in wagers on the results being astonishing. The matches generally commence on Sunday 
afternoons, by two natives matching their birds. When the first battle is decided, another pair are matched, 
and so on, the fighting being kept up until dusk. 
That the sport has not yet died out in Great Britain is evident from the following, giving a description 
of a modern cock-fight, published in the Pall Mall Gazette : — 
" The fighting takes place in a pit, as it is technically termed, a circular area, the floor of which is 
usually composed of newly-dug turf. Round the pit runs a parapet, two or three feet high, padded, to 
prevent injury to the birds. The referee is appointed at the pit-side, and so great is the law of honour 
which prevails among ' cockers,' that instances are on record where the referee has been allowed to ' back his 
fancy ' during the progress of a battle. Said one old ' cocker,' with whom the writer conversed, ' I knew one 
famous referee who regularly betted during the progress of a " main," and I never heard a murmur against iiis 
