1878.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
173 
White-Crested White Polish Fowls. 
The Polish fowls are known by their very con¬ 
spicuous crest. The origin of these crested fowls 
is somewhat obscure. Cuvier and Buffon mention 
them, but are unable to 
fix upon their original ... 
source. It is supposed 
that they were first de¬ 
scribed by an Italian 
author, about 260 years 
ago, iu whose treatise 
rough wood-cuts of some 
crested fowls were given 
■as “ Paduan Fowls.” Pa¬ 
dua was an Italian city, 
and these crested fowls 
were, therefore, Italian. 
Buffon refers to the Pa¬ 
duan fowls, and supposed 
them to have been des¬ 
cended from Asiatic 
stock ; he also described 
a variety with white body 
and black crest, which 
has long been extinct, 
although breeders have 
made many efforts to re¬ 
store it. The varieties of 
the Polish fowls now 
known, are the White- 
crested White, the White- 
crested Black, the Gold¬ 
en, and the Silver-span¬ 
gled, with some bearded 
varieties. Of these, the 
most beautiful is, perhaps, the first mentioned, 
the portraits of a pair of which are given on this 
page. This pair was bred by H. T. Sperry, Esq., 
of Hartford, Conn., who has devoted ten years of 
his leisure from journalistic duties to their careful 
culture. He has made a specialty of this breed, 
and has imported fowls, at a cost of $130 in gold 
the trio, for the improvement of his stock. The 
Polish fowls are profuse layers, non-sitters, deli¬ 
cate table fowls, of handsome appearance; they 
possess an oddity in their crests, which makes 
them attractive to the fancier and the amateur. 
They are contented in confinement, and bear close 
quarters very well; are easily kept within bounds, 
and becoming readily at¬ 
tached to their owners, 
make pleasing pets. 
When young, they are 
unusually elegant with 
their full crests, grace¬ 
fully shaped little bodies, 
and tame disposition. On 
the whole, there is hard¬ 
ly any other breed which 
would give more satis¬ 
factory results in every 
way, where but one is 
kept, than this. It is 
somewhat strange, there¬ 
fore, to find that Mr. 
Sperry is the only ama¬ 
teur who has devoted 
time, attention, and 
money, to the breeding 
and improvement of this 
variety of fowl as a single 
specialty. As a matter 
of course, it is easier to 
excel in one thing than 
in many, and Mr. Sper¬ 
ry's success at the exhibi¬ 
tions over other breed¬ 
ers, is the natural result 
of his singleness of pur¬ 
pose and perseverance. 
For some years back,he has taken the principal prizes 
at the poultry exhibitions wherever his birds have 
been shown. For ornament, the pure white breeds 
have a decided advantage over the colored ones, be¬ 
cause they show so conspicuously upon a green lawn 
or a field. The White Leghorn is very popular on this 
account,as well as for its prolific egg-producing ; but 
the White Polish has an advantage over the graceful 
Leghorn in the possession of a crest, a heavier 
body, and better flesh, as well as being equally 
valuable as an egg-producer. For ornament, there¬ 
fore, as well as for use, the White Polish should be 
A SOUTH AMEBICAN PENGUIN. 
popular fowls. Perhaps they have formerly suffer¬ 
ed in reputation somewhat from vicious breeding 
in the hands of persons less conscientious than Mr. 
Sperry. The breeders we refer to are fortunately 
not Americans, for it is to our breeders that these 
fowls owe their restoration to their old vigor and 
constitution. As in other particulars, so in this 
less important one, our poultry fanciers have been 
able to beat foreign breeders at unfavorable odds. 
Tlie Penguins. 
Under the common name Penguin, are included 
birds of the Southern Hemisphere, which are placed 
WHITE-ORESTED WHITE POLISH FOWLS. 
by naturalists in three or four different genera. 
They are all found upon the sea shore, and are 
similar in their habits to the related Auks of the 
Northern Hemisphere. The general appearance of 
the Penguins is shown by the engraving upon this 
page. These birds are found upon the islands of 
the South Pacific in such numbers that the accounts 
of explorers iu those regions as to the extent of the 
flocks, and the manner in which they cover the 
shore, seem almost incredible. It was formerly 
supposed that the immense guano deposits of the 
western coast of South America, and neighboring 
islands, resulted from the 
accummulated dung of 
these birds, though some 
recent naturalists do not 
accept this view of the 
origin of the guano de¬ 
posits. The acquisition 
of a fine specimen by the 
Royal Zoological Gar¬ 
dens (London), allowed 
“The Field” to present 
the portrait which we 
have re-engraved. The 
plumage of this bird, 
when old, is of a dark- 
brown color, the breast 
being white, spotted with 
brown. But soon after 
moulting it undergoes a 
change. In the moult, 
the feathers do not fall 
off singly as is usual 
with other birds, but iu 
flakes and large scales. 
The new plumage, when 
complete, is dark-bluish- 
black on the back and 
wings; a white line 
passes over the eye to¬ 
wards the crown of the 
head; the breast and 
belly, and under parts of the wing, are white; 
a broad black line borders the white all around 
from the throat to the tail. The Penguins 
are all most expert fishers and divers, and dart 
through the water with the greatest activity. Upon 
laud they jump and wabble about in a most un¬ 
gainly fashion, their movements being somewhat as 
if their feet were tied together, and present a 
ludicrous mixture of hopping, shuffling, and falling 
about. Of the habits of the Penguins, we have a 
graphic description by one of the company of the 
exploring ship “ The Challenger,” in his “ Log Let¬ 
ters.” The writer describes what is known as one of 
their “rookeries,” or nesting places, as follows: 
“ Between the foot of the 
cliff and the beach was 
a bank covered with long 
tussock grass, among 
which the Penguins had 
their nests, and from 
which they had regular 
roads into the rookeries. 
Among the stems of the 
tall tussock grass they 
were sitting about in 
thousands on their nests, 
consisting of a layer of 
grass. It was not pleasant 
walking in the rookery ; 
horrible smells, to say 
nothing of the fierce digs 
we got in our legs, and 
the fiendish noise—some¬ 
thing between the last 
notes of a donkey’s bray 
and a deep-voiced sheep 
—a perfect roar which is 
kept up night and day,and 
plainly audible from the 
ship, sounding on a still 
night like the roar of a 
heavy surf. They never 
had more than two eggs, 
sometimesonly one,larger 
than a Dorking’s, colored 
dirty-white with brown stains. The young, just out 
of the egg were black, naked things. Many of the 
eggs were cracked by the young inside, who were 
poking their bills out. Afterwards we walked back 
to the rocks where we had landed, a distance of 
five or more hundred yards, through the densest 
