642 A Chapter on Fowls. 
turkey, with which also the hoccos born in the domestic state will 
also unite. It appears, in fact, very possible to produce mongrels 
from the major part of the gallinace, which are susceptible of 
cultivation." 
It is supposed that the English game fowl originated from a 
cross between the common hen and the pheasant, as the latter 
is known to be of so quarrelsome and determined a character, 
that when two cocks encounter in their wild state, they seldom 
separate until one or the other is killed. The game breed cer- 
tainly much resembles them in their plumage, color of their legs, 
&c., for the best are mostly red and dark brown. But Mowbray 
says, " The progeny between the pheasant and the common fowl, 
are necessarily 'nmles, as proceeding from different species, though 
of the same genus." 
The game fov.'l is one of the most gracefully formed and most 
beautifully colored of our domestic breeds of poultry, and in its 
form, aspect, and that extraordinary courage which characterises 
its natural disposition, exhibited all that either the naturalist or 
the sportsman would at once recognise as the beau ideal of Idgh 
blood; embodying, in short, in its individual person, all the most 
indubitable characteristics of gallinaceous aristocracy. 
The game fowl is somewhat inferior in size to most other 
breeds, and in his shape he approximates more closely to the ele- 
gant and stately form of the pheasant. Among poulterers, he is 
what the Arabian is amongst horses, and the fleet greyhound 
amongst the canine race. 
The flesh of the game fowl is of a beautifully white color, ten- 
der and delicate in the extreme. The hens are excellent layers; 
and although the eggs are somewhat under the average size, they 
are not to be surpassed, if indeed equalled as to excellence of 
flavor. Such being the character of this fowl, it is no wonder 
that many prefer them to any other breed. 
Profits of Bearing Poultry, — The rearing of poultry and eggs, 
as a matter of profit, has not been properly appreciated by the 
farmers in this country. They have been considered as unprofita- 
ble, and kept more as a luxury than a necessary article of food; 
but from our own experience, we are enabled to say, that for the 
amount invested, there is no branch of farming more profitable 
than the poultry-yard, if properly managed. 
In a late number of the Gardener's Chronicle, published in 
London, we find the following items of poultry keeping, furnished 
by a correspondent. 
" They are," says the writer, " the bona fide costs and receipts 
of the produce of 10 hens and one cock in 1846, and of 12 hens 
in 1847. In the first year, two couple of ducks and one drake 
were of the family, but not in the second. The food was all 
