246 
DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
often weighs more than it appears to do. It stands tall, with very up- 
right gait. The legs are long, the thighs are remarkably long, strong, 
and firm ; and the tarsi of moderate length, round, stout, and of a 
yellow color. The tail is long and drooping, the head snake-shaped, 
i. e., with a great fullness over the eye, and of a flattened form above. 
The thick comb, scarcely rising from the head, has been compared to 
half a strawberry; so that the natural form of comb a little resembles 
that of the game-fowl when dubbed. The neck is rope-like and close- 
feathered, and the bird is almost without wattle. 
The Malay should have a pearl eye, and a hawk bill free from stain. 
The pullets commence laying early, and are often good winter layers. 
The egg is of medium size, with a tinted shell. The chickens when 
half-grown, are gaunt, ungainly looking young things, and, like rnanv 
choice kinds, fledge slowly. 3 
Height is a great point in a Malay. Old fanciers had a curious mode 
of comparing notes upon this point. They used to hold the bird out at 
full stretch, and measure the length, from beak to toe, on a table. Some 
of old Mr. Castang s breed are mentioned as having measured thirty-eight 
and a half inches. The cocks arc said to have weighed from nine and a half 
pounds to eleven pounds, and the hens from eight pounds to ten pounds. 
I have known a Spanish cock and a Malay hen produce excellent 
fowls for the table, being large, fleshy, and well-flavored. 
The Malays are inveterate fighters ; and this is the quality for which 
they are chiefly prized in their native country, where cock-fighting is 
carried to the extent of excessive gambling. Men and boys may be 
frequently met, each carrying his favorite bird under his arm, ready to 
set to work the moment the opportunity shall cccur. 
TllC Cochin Chinn. — The history of the Cochin-China fowl might be the 
history of the poultry mania, an excitement which rivaled manias of 
greater importance in its strength. They were introduced some time 
about the year 1845, and soon became known and popular. Their large 
size, in the eyes of most persons, their handsome appearance, the bright- 
ness of their colors, the number of their eggs, and their gentle, quiet 
disposition, soon made their way ; they were much liked, and were 
bought eagerly at from three to six dollars each ; at that time a 
very high price for a fowl. Cochin China hens are excellent layers of 
medium-sized eggs, which they produce in great abundance at the season 
when they arc of greatest value. The chickens, if bred from mature 
birds, are exceedingly hardy ; and the fowls are of quiet, domestic habits, 
and easily kept within bounds. A first-class fowl should be compact 
large, and square-built ; full in the chest, deep in the keel, and broad 
across the loins and hind quarters. The best in form are as compactly 
made as Dorkings. The head is delicately shaped, with a short bill, and 
the comb fane in texture, rather small, perfectly single, straight, and 
equally serrated; the wings small and closely folded in, the tail short, 
and carried rather horizontally; the legs very short, yellow (according 
to rule) and heavily feathered. This fowl has, however, lost its earlier 
popularity, and is now generally discarded by good poulterers, being 
found a voracious feeder, and yielding a comparatively small return for 
the food consumed. 
