208 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION, June 80, 1857. 
“ Newmarket” asks wliat I mean by a primitive variety of 
fowls. The terra, I am aware, is not scientifically accurate, as 
in strictness it expresses more than is justified by the little 
we know of the origin of our domestic poultry. Under this 
term I merely intended to include varieties possessing colours 
and peculiarities of form which we cannot show to he the 
result of a cross, which are of a permanent character, and 
capable of transmission in breeding. “Newmarket” says 
there can have been but one primitive variety; but this I 1 
think is an assertion contrary to all probability, and alto¬ 
gether unsupported by proof. Able naturalists have dis¬ 
cussed the question, and have failed to supply any solid 
data for forming an opinion on the subject. The diversities 
and contrasts in form, colour, and habits exhibited in the 
different varieties of our poultry are strong presumptions 
against a single origin. But there is some plausibility in 
the attempt to trace a few varieties of our domestic poultry 
to certain wild fowls known to naturalists, and still found in 
a state of nature, and no doubt there are points of resem¬ 
blance between Bengal Jungle fowl and our Black Red 
Game, between the Sonnerat fowl and the Duckwings, the ! 
Bankiva fowl and some of our Bantams, and a very close 
resemblance between the Kulm fowl, or Gallus giganteus , and 
the Malays ; but, with the exception of the Kulm fowl and 
Malay, the only close approximation to our domestic poultry 
has been effected by crossing and recrossing with the latter, 
until the blood of the wild original has been reduced to an 
infinitesimal quantity. The fact that the wild fowl referred 
to will breed with our domestic poultry, and the produce of 
the cross be prolific, is certainly evidence of identity of 
species. Beyond this all is vague conjecture, and we must 
be content with the fact that we have a number of varieties 
of fowls possessing distinct and permanent characteristics 
in form and colour, and which are transmissible in breeding. 
But to return to the subject of Game fowls. “ New¬ 
market” does not agree with me that there are two distinct 
varieties of Black Reds, in one of which the hens are a dark 
partridge colour, and in the other a lightish cinnamon or 
wheat colour, with clear hackles, and without the partridge 
markings in the feathers of the back and wings. The latter, 
he says, have in his experience thrown Duns and Piles. I 
think he must have been unfortunate in the selection of liis 
stock, as I know there are hens of this colour which will 
breed black-breasted cocks entirely free from any trace of a 
white or dun feather, and I have seen large broods of them 
in which the pullets were so exactly alike as to be quite 
undistinguisliable. The cocks of this variety are remarkably 
clear, and somewhat lighter in colour than those bred from j 
dark Partridge hens, and I know some successful breeders 
for exhibition who always cross with the wheat-coloured | 
hens and cocks from the darker strain, for the purpose of ! 
obtaining a clear light hackle in the cocks. The pullets 
bred from this cross have rather a mixed appearance, being 
generally slightly partridge-feathered down the back, but a | 
clear brown or cinnamon on the wings. There is the same 
distinction of colours among the Malays, where we have the 
Cinnamon and dark Partridge hen, both of which will breed 
black-breasted cocks. Many breeders I know share “New¬ 
market’s” opinion about the wheat-coloured hens, and it is 
only recently experience has satisfied me that they are pro¬ 
perly classed with the Black-breasted Reds. Two or three 
years ago, when acting as a Poultry Judge, I remember feel¬ 
ing great difficulty about a pen of Game chickens shown as 
Black-breasted Reds. The pen consisted of a remarkably 
good black-breasted cockerel and two light and perfectly 
clear cinnamon pullets. In form and growth this was the 
best pen of chickens at the show, but my colleague and I 
thought they were not properly matched, and I have,often 
since regretted that the pen was passed over. 
If I cannot agree with “Newmarket” about the Black 
Reds, I am still more at issue with him on the breeding of 
Duckwings, or, as he calls them, Yellow Duckwings. I pre¬ 
sume he refers to Duckwings with straw hackles, copper 
saddles, and black breast and tail. They may be bred, he 
says, from a Black-breasted Red cock and a Grey hen. In 
cross-breeding it generally happens that the pullets take 
colour from the stock to which the cock belongs, and the 
cockerels the reverse. It is, therefore, quite possible that 
cocks approaching the true Duckwing colours might be bred 
from a Grey hen, even when matched with a Black Red 
cock; but I have always found that most of the pullets 
from this cross were brown, or at least brown on the wings, 
and many of the cocks had red saddles, and in some a few 
red feathers would appear in the hackle. I am still, there¬ 
fore, of opinion that the Black-breasted Duckwings possess 
the characteristics of a primitive variety, and can only be 
bred with any degree of uniformity from birds possessing 
the true Duckwing colours. “ Newmarket” is probably right | 
in considering the Dark Greys and Silver Greys pure 
varieties; they breed very true, and I never knew them 
produced by a cross between other colours. As to the Piles, I 
have tried the cross suggested by “ Newmarket,” and as the 
chickens, at least some of them, were very nearly true Piles, 
I have little doubt they may be bred from the Black Red 
and White Game fowls. I can also confirm to some extent 
his opinion about the Birchen Yellows, as I have seen some 
very tolerable specimens which were bred from a cross be¬ 
tween the Greys and Brown Reds. The Red Dun is certainly j 
a cross between the Blue Dun and Brown Red; but I am 
not aware of any cross that will produce the Blue Dun, and 
I think it is entitled to be considered one of the primitive 
colours. The Black, as well as the White Game, are also 
primitive colours. Both these varieties will breed with 
perfect uniformity when the stock has been selected with 
proper care. There are many White Game fowls in this 
neighbourhood, and I have seen some hundreds of chickens 
from them without a single coloured feather. The several 
varieties of Brassy Wings have an appearance of a cross 
between the Black and the Black Reds or Duckwings, and I ! 
have known good specimens bred in this manner. Of the ! 
Cuckoos I know nothing beyond having seen them at our 
exhibitions ; they have the regularity in the markings of the 
feathers which is one indication of a pure variety. I do not 
know of any cross which would produce them, and I believe ! 
many experienced breeders class them among the primitive 
colours. 
I have drawn up two lists. The first contains the Game 
fowls which there are good grounds to consider as primitive i 
varieties, and the second contains those varieties which there 
is strong reason to believe may be produced by crossing. 
The first list contains— 
1. Black Red, with Partridge 
hens. 
2. Black Red, with Cinnamon 
hens. 
3. Brown-breasted Reds. 
4. Black-breasted Duckwings. 
5. Dark Greys. 
(5. Light or Silver Greys. 
7. White. 
8. Black. 
9. Blue Dun. 
10. Cuckoos. 
The second list, containing those colours which may be 
produced by crossing, ineludes— 
1. Piles. 
2. Spangles. 
3. Brassy Wings. 
4. Red Duns. 
5. Streaky-breasted Reds. 
G. Birchen Yellows. 
I have not included the hen-feathered cocks in either list, 
as their claim to be considered a distinct variety is ques¬ 
tionable. The hens from which they are bred have nothing 
to distinguish them from Game hens of other varieties, and 
the lien-feathered cock is possibly nothing more than an 
accidental freak of nature. But, like the Hen-feathered 
Hamburgh cocks, they have a few zealous advocates, and I 
once saw a brood of Game chickens bred from a hen- 
feathered cock in which there were three cockerels, and all 
of them were hen-feathered.— A North Country Amateur. 
| 
P.S.—As I am not acquainted with “ Newmarket’s ” : 
address perhaps I may be permitted to take this opportu¬ 
nity of informing him that I cannot just now make the 
exchange which he proposes. If I knew his address I could j 
probably put him in the way of obtaining what he requires. 
Curious Fact in Natural History. —Some pheasants’ j 
eggs were recently set close to the spot where a partridge I 
had had her nest destroyed. She still kept about the spot, 
and when the pheasant poults appeared attacked them on 
every occasion. She had killed nine, and escaped with 
impunity twice. She was attacking them for the third time 
when the keeper shot her.— John Baily. 
