190 
THE POULTRY BOOK. 
little wrinlded and shrivelled. The comb is small and spiky, though in some 
of the pure-bred specimens it becomes occasionally large, coarse, and branched. 
Both sexes have the neck full and arched : that of the cock is clothed with a full 
ample hackle. The tail is furnished with abundant sickle feathers, the throat is 
fully muffled, the breast plump, the body square and compact ; the legs closely 
feathered, and furnished with those accessory plumes which constitute what is 
known as vulture hocks. 
“ The legs, as old age approaches, are apt to get red, swollen, and inflamed, a fact 
that I attribute to the peculiarity of the spur growing in a curved form round the 
leg, the point generally growing in, and producing, in old age, considerable irritation. 
My old birds are all so, and the pure-bred young ones inherit this peculiarity. I 
have also noticed it in those specimens I have seen at shows, which looked like the 
pure strain. 
Sultans are abundant layers of moderate-sized eggs. As adults they are as 
hardy as any birds I know, with the exception of the tendency to cold, to which all 
crested birds are subject if unsheltered during rainy weather ; but the chickens, 
from their rapid and early feathering, are difficult to rear, evidently suffering 
severely from the extra strain on their young constitutions. Sultans are small 
feeders : from their quick, lively, and eccentric ways, they make most interesting 
pets. 
In my own individual opinion they are unquestionably an original and pure 
breed, entirely distinct from any other crested breed I am acquainted with ; the 
fifth toe and other characteristic peculiarities being transmitted in pure specimens 
with the greatest certainty. 
‘‘ They have evidently been largely crossed with other varieties, thus producing 
the spurious breed formerly known as Ptarmigans; the small flat fajling crest, 
exposed red face, absence of muffling, and slight shank-feathering, being abun- 
dant proofs of a deteriorating cross. 
At the same time, I believe that an infusion of fresh blood is much wanted; 
and I thought myself singularly fortunate v/hen a friend described minutely 
a white-crested bird which a lady had had given her by the captain of a vessel 
from the Mediterranean, requesting to know the name of the breed. Evidently 
Sultan, I thought ; and without much delay a negotiation for an exchange was 
entered into, which resulted in my receiving an exact counterpart of the old 
hens I had — direct descendants of the birds first imported by Miss Watts — 
and fully confirming her interesting account of the original introduction of the 
breed into this country. I have since bred many birds, and some of my finest 
specimens, from the hen in question. 
From what I see at the shows, I cannot but think pure Sultans are very 
scarce, and that many of the fowls so called are the result of modern attempts at 
their manufacture. 
I believe I have said all I have to say respecting this variety, with the 
exception that, like most crested birds, they are non-sitters. 
