134 
THE POULTRY BOOK. 
the great mains fought there by feeders of reputation and eminence, such as 
Gilliver, Potter, Walters, Nash, and Leicester, in which the birds belonging to 
Mr. Germaine, Lord Ongley, Lord Derby, and other gentlemen of note were to 
be found, hen-cocks rarely were weighed for the main, but were frequently fought 
in the byes. 
Generally speaking, hen-cocks were not of the figure and frame to make what 
was technically called fine match- cocks or big birds at their weight, but they very 
frequently carried a great deal of spur. One quality they had, which made it 
dangerous to bet against them — their exact resemblance to a hen. Unless the 
man who handled against the hen-cock was very careful to convince the bird which 
it was his province to set, that he was to fight a cock and not a hen (which 
could only be done by allowing a good deal of pecking to take place before the 
birds were delivered), the cock, when on the pit, would mistake the hen-cock for 
one of the fair sex, and proceed to put his wing down, and offer certain delicate 
attentions, in the middle of which he would receive his death-blow, or get the 
silver spur driven into his throat, and all chance of recovering his amatory mistake 
rendered hopeless. In the course of a somewhat long experience as a cock-fighter, 
I have seen this happen perhaps half a dozen times, 
“I had a pair of these birds (brother and sister, cock and hen) given to me by 
the late William Stradling, probably the best handler that ever went into a pit. 
I never could get a bird more than 3 lb. 10 oz. from them. The hen was small. 
The cock fought at 41b. while in my possession, and crippled a very fine cock (who, 
in all probability, otherwise would have made short work with him) by being 
mistaken for a hen, and getting the first blow. The only difference in the plumage 
of these two birds was in the length of the tail, which, in the male bird, was 
something longer than that of the hen, and exactly resembled the drawing of Mr. 
Tegetmeier’s specimen. I afterwards crossed the hen with a black-red of my own 
breeding ; the result was, that these chickens, which had the usual feather of the 
game-cock, were never more than tolerable, although the brood cock was of as good 
blood as any cock then bred. On the other hand, the only chicken which turned 
out to be a hen- cock proved to be a very good one, and fought a terrible battle as 
a stag, but lost by an accident.” 
The Indian game fowls that have been imported are coarse, heavy, ill- shaped 
birds, that have evidently been produced by crossing the true English game fowl 
with several of the smaller Malay native breeds ; they fight with courage and 
bull-dog like tenacity of purpose, but without the wondrous activity of the true 
breed. 
A very singular variety of game fowl, said to be of Indian origin, is described in 
the following communication from Mr. B. P. Brent, of Parkhurst, near Uckfield, 
who writes : — 
A cockerel and two hens were sent me by a friend in Germany, who informed 
me the breed was brought from India, that it was rare and much prized, a good 
cock fetching 3 or 4 Fredrick d’ors. My cockerel is a dark-breasted red, almost 
