OCR Text |
Show 230 FOWLS. CHAP. VII. ]]. l 1 ·t .:~ strnw-yollow · head fnl'ni shod with a crest, and a triple ) ar c, w u c, ftTI\t • "' • t • comb pln.ecd trn.nsvorsoly ; both wa ttles and hom·d proson . .'nh-hrocd (y) Uwlrlerllwds.-No comb, h ad s~id to. he sm·mo~tod h~ ~ 1 ·t 1·. 1 t of soft vel v ty fc·:tthcrs · nostl'l l. S[LICl to be crosccntJc, 0 11'"1 u< nm ere.- · . ' ' . 1 1- F . r -tl wattl e. well deYeloped ; legs feathcrecl ; ol 01~r b n.c "· rom 0 1 1 America. Tho Breda fowl seems to he closely a ll ted to tl~ o Guoldcrlancl_ H. BANT.\llr BnKim.- Ol'iginally from Jrtpan,5 chn.racton:wcl hy .-mn.ll Sl7.C al nc; carriage bold and erect. Tlt rc a t'IJ several _sull-hrocd,., such as the 'ocldn, Clam , and Behright ]~antam.", some of wln h 1Ht:c. b •en recently formcl by vn.ri u.- cro.'RCS. The Black Btt~ltftm Juts. r.t ~llffercntly shaped sknll, with the occipitnl fomm n like that of tltc C?clnn fowl. 0 9. Rcm>-J,ES FowL . . - These arc so varia.l,Jo m _clmract_ r tlutt they hardly des •rv to h , cal led n. hrccd. Any one who w111 cxa.mmc the caudal vertebrro wills c how monstrous the breed is. 10. UmmPEH on J JII PEHS.-·Th c~c arc cltaractcrizcd hy an almost monstron. shortness of 1 gs, so that they moYC hy jumping rath er th~n hy wnlking; they ar said not to scratch up tho ground. J have cxammcd a J3nrm , c variety, whieh hacl a skull of mi.her mm. nal s~1apc. . 11. FwzzLED 01: C.H'J?RE FowLs.-Not uncommon m Ind1a, with the feather. curling lmekwarcls, nnd with th primary feathers of the wing aucl tail impcrfc ·t; ]lCriostcnm of h n •s hlack. 12. SILK FowLs.- Fcathers si lky, with lhc primary wing and tail-feathers imp r~ •ct; skin and pcrio:tcnm of bones black; ?om b and w~ttlcs d~rk 1 aclen-bluc; car-lapp t tinged with blue; legs thm, often furrushcd w1llt an additional too. , 'izc rather small. 10. OO'l'Y FowLs.-An Indian l>rcccl, of a white col om stained with . oot, with black skin and pcrio tcum. The b ns alone arc thus characterized. From thi synop .. i we see that the several breed' differ consid ml>Jy, and they wonlcl have been nearly a iutcre ting for us a pig on·, if thoro l1acl Leon equally good evidence that all had d 'C nclo l from one parent- pecies. I\Iost fanc:i rs L li ve that they nrc d condod from sov ral primitive stocks. 'l'he Rev. E. , '. Dixon 7 argue strono·ly on this side of the qne tion; and one fancier even lenouncc the oppo ite conclusion by a ·king, "Do we not perceive pervading this spirit, the spirit of th JJei t ? " l\Io t naturali t , with the exr ption of a few, uch as '1' mminck, believe that all the breecl hare pro · ed d from a ingle species ; but authority on such a point 4 A uescriplion, with figm s, i~ given of th is brecu in 'Joumal of liorticullure,' June Bnl, l G2, p. l G. Some writer· lie cribc lhc comb n~> two-horned. ~ l\lr. Crawfunl, 'D ' ·eript. Diet. of til 1 nuinu I sluntl8,' p. 113. Bantams ur menlioued in an ancient native J apane Ency<:loprouia,ns I am informed by l\Ir. Birch of the Brifillh l\1u ·cum. r. 'Ornamental and Dome ·tic Poultry,' 1 4 . i 'Ornamental and Domestic Poultry,' 1 -!8. CHAP. VII. THEIR PARENTAGE. 231 goes for little. Fanciers look to all parts of the world as the possible sources of their unknown stocks; thns ignoring the laws of geographical distribntivn. 'fhey know well that the several kinds brood truly even in colour. They assort, but, as we shall Reo, on very weak ground!-l, that most of the breeds arc extremely ancient. They are strongly impre sed with the great difference between the chief kinds, and they ask with force, can differences in climate, food, or treatment have produced birds so different as the black stately Spanish, the diminutive elegant Bantam, the heavy Oochin with its many peculiarities, and tho Polish fowl with it great top-knot and protuberant skull? · Bu':. fanciers, whilst admitting and even overrating the effects of croRsing the various br eels, do not sufficiently regard tho probability of the occasional birth, dnring the course of centuries, of birds with abnormal and h ereditary peculiarities ; they overlook the effects of correlation of growth-of the longcontinued usc and disuse of parts, and of some d irect result from changed food and climate, though on this latter head I have found no sufficient evidence ; and lastly, they all, as far as I know, entirely overlook the all-important subject of unconscious or unmethodical selection, though they are well aware that their birds differ individually, and that by selecting the best birds for a few generations they can improve their stock . An amateur writes 8 as follows. "The fact that poultry have until lately received but little attention at the hands of the fancier, and boon entirely confined to the domains of the produrer for the market, would alone suggest the improbability of that constant and unremitting attention having been observed in breeding, which is rcqui ite to the consummating, in the offspring of any two bird , tran mittable forms not exhibited by the parents." This at first sight appears true. But in a future chapter on Selection, abundant facts will be given showing not only that careful breeding, but that actual selection was practised during ancient periods, and by barely civilised races of man. In the case of the fowl I can adduce no direct facts showing that selection was anciently practised ; but the Romans at the commencement of the Christian era kept six or seven breeds, and Columella "particularly recommends as the best, those sorts 8 F erguson's ' Illustrated Series of Rare and Priz Poultry,' 1854, p. vi., Preface .. |