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Show 1 9 0 3 .] JAPANESE LONG-TAILED FOWLS. 2 3 7 It seemed, therefore, that the growth of the feathers in Cock B was barely keeping pace with that in Cock A, although only in the former were the feathers pulled or stroked. In Cock A the longest feathers were the two central rectrices ; in B only one of the central rectrices was as long, the adult feathers having mostly started earlier in A than in B. Up to this time Cock A had been with the three hens, and B with the other cocks until I had got rid of these. 1902, Jan. 8th.-On this date one of the hens laid the first egg. It was small and of light brown colour, like those the birds were hatched from. The hens have a low serrated comb and scarcely any wattles, only red skin about the cheeks. Jan. 12th. Age 7 months.-In Cock A the 2nd pair of rectrices, counting from the middle, seemed to be coming to the end of their growth, the sheaths drying up and the quills forming. This pair were not so long as the corresponding pair in Cock B which had been pulled. The five outer pairs of rectrices had ceased gi owing in both cocks. These were broad and stiff and only about 6 or 7 inches long, in fact like the rectrices of ordinary fowls. All the hens were now laying. One of the hens was put with Cock B, the other two with A. Feb. ±th. Age 7 months 22 days.- Cock A, longest feather........... 251 in. = 64 cm. Cock B ,, ,, ........... 25-J in. = 65*7 cm. It is thus evident that the growth in B had been greater than in A. The feathers in B were pulled once or twice a day whenever I was at home, and B was tied on the perch with his feathers loose at night, while A was usually left free with his tail rolled up in paper. The sheaths of the central rectrices, which were the longest feathers in both birds, were in Cock A shorter, and seemed as though growth were about to cease. It is to be noted here that so long as the feather is in full growth, the horny sheath which surrounds the base is milky white, or bluish white, and soft, while when growth ceases the sheath dries up and appears black because the feather is seen through i t ; then it scales off, and leaves the quill of the feather bare down to the surface of the skin. The quill at the base of a full-grown feather is only formed at the end of growth, and most of it is contained in the skin-socket. Thus I learned to recognise the approaching cessation of growth and formation of the quill by the appearance of the horny sheath. Feb. 10th.-One of the feathers was accidentally pulled out in Cock A while the tail was tied up in paper. I do not know how this occurred; I only saw the root of the feather hanging free while the length of it was held by the paper. When a growing feather is thus pulled out, the horny sheath comes out of the dermal socket and remains attached to the base of the feather, |