BRITISH BIRDS# 
278 
from the fouthern parts of Afia, and when young 
are extremely fenfible of cold : They have a difor- 
dered and unpleafant appearance, but are in much 
efteem for the table. 
We ftiall finifh our lift with the Englifh Game- 
Cock, which ftands unrivalled by thofe of any 
other nation for its invincible courage, and on that 
account is made ufe of as the inftrument of the 
cruel fport of cock-fighting. To trace this cuftom 
to its origin we muft look back into barbarous 
times, and lament that it ftill continues the dif- 
grace of an enlightened and philofophic age. The 
Athenians allotted one day in the year to cock- 
fighting ; the Romans are faid to have learned it 
from them ; and by that warlike people it was firft 
introduced into this ifland. Henry VIII. was fo 
attached to the fport, that he caufed a commodious 
houfe to be ere&ed for that purpofe, which, though 
it is now applied to a very different ufe, ftill re- 
tains the name of the Cock-pit. The Chinefe and 
many of the nations of India are fo extravagantly 
fond of this unmanly fport, that, during the par- 
oxyfms of their phrenzy, they will fometimes rilk 
not only the whole of their property, but their 
wives and children on the iffue of a battle. 
The appearance of the Game-cock, when in his 
full plumage, and not mutilated for the purpofe of 
fighting, is ftrikingly beautiful and animated : His 
head, which is fmall, is adorned with a beautiful 
red comb and wattles ; his eyes fparkle with fire, 
