THE POULTRY BOOK. 
103 
otlier hand, great attention has been paid to this breed in Holland, and many of 
the best birds recently imported have been introduced from thence. There can be 
little doubt that the Dutch originally obtained the breed from Spain during the 
Spanish occupation of the Low Countries, and that they have carefully bred them 
since in a state of purity, and increased the beauty of the breed by the process of 
very careful artificial selection.” 
In England they have long been favourites with poultry-keepers of all grades. 
Mr. Bond, of Leeds, well known as one of the most experienced 'poultry-fanciers, 
informs us that he has kept them for thirty years ; and his recollection carries 
him back to as good specimens in those days as any that are now seen. The 
vicinities of London, Islington and Spitalfields, were then their principal localities. 
Mr. Bond gives the following account of their characters as they were formerly 
bred by the London fanciers : — 
Male. — Head large ; beak of moderate size ; eyes very bright ; comb single, 
upright, very large, red as coral, and slightly serrated ; face and cheeks perfectly 
white, the white extending round the eye ; wattles long and pendulous ; neck of 
moderate length, but strong; body broad and close-feathered; wings of medium 
size ; rather long in the leg, which is of a bluish white colour ; tail a good plume ; 
plumage a glossy black, having a greenish shade in the sun. 
Female. — Head and beak neat, and of moderate size ; eyes bright ; comb 
single, very large, and pendulous ; face entirely white, the white extending round 
the eye ; neck of moderate length, neatly set on ; body broad ; wings of middle 
size ; legs almost white ; tail long and well squared ; plumage as in the male, but 
less brilliant. 
The most important general characteristics being the uniformly fine black 
plumage; immense comb in both sexes ; and the white face and ear-lobes, which 
increase with age, especially in the female. 
This description of Mr. Bond has been objected to on the score of slaty blue 
legs being now regarded as indispensable to success in the exhibition pen ; but it 
certainly appears that the London fanciers, some years since, required pale legs 
for their Spanish birds ; and a good story has been handed down of an enthusiastic 
amateur, whose bird was detected with its legs in poultices the day previous to 
its being exhibited, in order to effect the production of that much desired tint. 
In reference to the size of the skull, we find the extreme length of the cranium 
of a Spanish cock, that had taken many prizes, to be three inches and a half, the 
same as that of the skull of a Dorking cock that w^eighed ten pounds, and one 
quarter of an inch less than that of a Brahma cock, the largest skull that we 
ever saw. 
In general size, also, the skull of the Spanish almost equals that of the Dorking ; 
but in form there is a very remarkable distinction, as the Spanish skull has a large 
well-defined fiat surface, from the top of which the enormous comb distinguishing 
the variety takes its rise, and which strongly contrasts with the rounded forehead 
of both Brahma and Dorking. 
