Chapter VII: Fowls (1)

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE CHIEF BREEDS--ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF THEIR
DESCENT FROM SEVERAL SPECIES--ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF ALL THE BREEDS
HAVING DESCENDED FROM GALLUS BANKIVA--REVERSION TO THE PARENT-STOCK IN
COLOUR--ANALOGOUS VARIATIONS--ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE FOWL--EXTERNAL
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SEVERAL BREEDS--EGGS--CHICKENS--SECONDARY
SEXUAL CHARACTERS--WING- AND TAIL-FEATHERS, VOICE, DISPOSITION,
ETC.--OSTEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES IN THE SKULL, VERTEBRAE, ETC.--EFFECTS OF
USE AND DISUSE ON CERTAIN PARTS--CORRELATION OF GROWTH.

As some naturalists may not be familiar with the chief breeds of the fowl, it will be advisable to give a condensed description of them.[361] From what I have read and seen of specimens brought from several quarters of the world, I believe that most of the chief kinds have been imported into England, but many sub-breeds are probably still here unknown. The following discussion on the origin of the various breeds and on their characteristic differences does not pretend to completeness, but may be of some interest to the naturalist. The classification of the breeds cannot, as far as I can see, be made natural. They differ from each other in different degrees, and do not afford characters in subordination to each other, by which they can be ranked in group under group. They seem all to have diverged by independent and different roads from a single type. Each chief breed includes differently coloured sub-varieties, most of which can be truly propagated, but it would be superfluous to describe them. I have classed the various crested fowls {226} as sub-breeds under the Polish fowl; but I have great doubts whether this is a natural arrangement, showing true affinity or blood relationship. It is scarcely possible to avoid laying stress on the commonness of a breed; and if certain foreign sub-breeds had been largely kept in this country they would perhaps have been raised to the rank of main-breeds. Several breeds are abnormal in character; that is, they differ in certain points from all wild Gallinaceous birds. At first I made a division of the breeds into normal and abnormal, but the result was wholly unsatisfactory.

1. GAME BREED.--This may be considered as the typical breed, as it
deviates only slightly from the wild _Gallus bankiva_, or, as perhaps
more correctly named, _ferrugineus_. Beak strong; comb single and
upright. Spurs long and sharp. Feathers closely adpressed to the body.
Tail with the normal number of 14 feathers. Eggs often pale-buff.
Disposition {227} indomitably courageous, exhibited even in the hens
and chickens. An unusual number of differently coloured varieties
exist, such as black and brown-breasted reds, duckwings, blacks,
whites, piles, &c., with their legs of various colours.

2. MALAY BREED.--Body of great size, with head, neck, and legs
elongated; carriage erect; tail small, sloping downwards, generally
formed of 16 feathers; comb and wattle small; ear-lobe and face red;
skin yellowish; feathers closely adpressed to the body; neck-hackles
short, narrow, and hard. Eggs often pale buff. Chickens feather late.
Disposition savage. Of Eastern origin.

3. COCHIN, OR SHANGAI BREED.--Size great; wing-feathers short, arched,
much hidden in the soft downy plumage; barely capable of flight; tail
short, generally formed of 16 feathers, developed at a late period in
the young males; legs thick, feathered; spurs short, thick; nail of
middle toe flat and broad; an additional toe not rarely developed; skin
yellowish. Comb and wattle well developed. Skull with deep medial
furrow; occipital foramen, sub-triangular, vertically elongated. Voice
peculiar. Eggs rough, buff-coloured. Disposition extremely quiet. Of
Chinese origin.

4. DORKING BREED.--Size great; body square, compact; feet with an
additional toe; comb well developed, but varies much in form; wattles
well developed; colour of plumage various. Skull remarkably broad
between the orbits. Of English origin.

The white Dorking may be considered as a distinct sub-breed, being a
less massive bird.

5. SPANISH BREED.--Tall, with stately carriage; tarsi long; comb
single, deeply serrated, of immense size; wattles largely developed;
the large ear-lobes and sides of face white. Plumage black glossed with
green. Do not incubate. Tender in constitution, the comb being often
injured by frost. Eggs white, smooth, of large size. Chickens feather
late, but the young cocks show their masculine characters, and crow at
an early age. Of Mediterranean origin.

The _Andalusians_ may be ranked as a sub-breed: they are of a slaty
blue colour, and their chickens are well feathered. A smaller,
short-legged Dutch sub-breed has been described by some authors as
distinct.

6. HAMBURGH BREED (fig. 31).--Size moderate; comb flat, produced
backwards, covered with numerous small points; wattle of moderate
dimensions; ear-lobe white; legs blueish, thin. Do not incubate. Skull,
with the tips of the ascending branches of the premaxillary and with
the nasal bones standing a little separate from each other; anterior
margin of the frontal bones less depressed than usual.

There are two sub-breeds; the _spangled_ Hamburgh, of English origin,
with the tips of the feathers marked with a dark spot; and the
_pencilled_ Hamburgh, of Dutch origin, with dark transverse lines
across each feather, and with the body rather smaller. Both these
sub-breeds include gold and silver varieties, as well as some other
sub-varieties. Black Hamburghs have been produced by a cross with the
Spanish breed.

7. CRESTED OR POLISH BREED (fig. 32).--Head with a large, rounded crest
of feathers, supported on a hemispherical protuberance of the frontal
bones, {228} which includes the anterior part of the brain. The
ascending branches of the premaxillary bones and the inner nasal
processes are much shortened. The orifice of the nostrils raised and
crescentic. Beak short. Comb absent, or small and of crescentic shape;
wattles either present or replaced by a beard-like tuft of feathers.
Legs leaden-blue. Sexual differences appear late in life. Do not
incubate. There are several beautiful varieties which differ in colour
and slightly in other respects.

The following sub-breeds agree in having a crest, more or less
developed, with the comb, when present, of crescentic shape. The skull
presents nearly the same remarkable peculiarities of structure as in
the true Polish fowl.

Sub-breed (_a_) _Sultans_.--A Turkish breed, resembling white Polish
fowls, with a large crest and beard, with short and well-feathered
legs. The tail is furnished with additional sickle feathers. Do not
incubate.[362]

Sub-breed (_b_) _Ptarmigans_.--An inferior breed closely allied to the
last, white, rather small, legs much feathered, with the crest pointed;
comb small, cupped; wattles small.

{229}

Sub-breed (_c_) _Ghoondooks_.--Another Turkish breed having an
extraordinary appearance; black and tailless; crest and beard large;
legs feathered. The inner processes of the two nasal bones come into
contact with each other, owing to the complete absorption of the
ascending branches of the premaxillaries. I have seen an allied, white,
tailless breed from Turkey.

Sub-breed (_d_) _Creve-coeur_.--A French breed of large size, barely
capable of flight, with short black legs, head crested, comb produced
into two points or horns, sometimes a little branched like the horns of
a stag; both beard and wattles present. Eggs large. Disposition
quiet.[363]

Sub-breed (_e_) _Horned fowl_.--With a small crest; comb produced into
two great points, supported on two bony protuberances.

Sub-breed (_f_) _Houdan_.--A French breed; of moderate size,
short-legged with five toes, wings well developed; plumage invariably
mottled with {230} black, white, and straw-yellow; head furnished with
a crest, and a triple comb placed transversely; both wattles and beard
present.[364]

Sub-breed (_g_) _Guelderlands_.--No comb, head said to be surmounted by
a longitudinal crest of soft velvety feathers; nostrils said to be
crescentic; wattles well developed; legs feathered; colour black. From
North America. The Breda fowl seems to be closely allied to the
Guelderland.

8. BANTAM BREED.--Originally from Japan,[365] characterized by small
size alone; carriage bold and erect. There are several sub-breeds, such
as the Cochin, Game, and Sebright Bantams, some of which have been
recently formed by various crosses. The Black Bantam has a differently
shaped skull, with the occipital foramen like that of the Cochin fowl.

9. RUMP-LESS FOWLS.--These are so variable in character[366] that they
hardly deserve to be called a breed. Any one who will examine the
caudal vertebrae will see how monstrous the breed is.

10. CREEPERS OR JUMPERS.--These are characterized by an almost
monstrous shortness of legs, so that they move by jumping rather than
by walking; they are said not to scratch up the ground. I have examined
a Burmese variety, which had a skull of rather unusual shape.

11. FRIZZLED OR CAFFRE FOWLS.--Not uncommon in India, with the feathers
curling backwards, and with the primary feathers of the wing and tail
imperfect; periosteum of bones black.

12. SILK FOWLS.--Feathers silky, with the primary wing and
tail-feathers imperfect; skin and periosteum of bones black; comb and
wattles dark leaden-blue; ear-lappets tinged with blue; legs thin,
often furnished with an additional toe. Size rather small.

13. SOOTY FOWLS.--An Indian breed, of a white colour stained with soot,
with black skin and periosteum. The hens alone are thus characterized.

From this synopsis we see that the several breeds differ considerably, and they would have been nearly as interesting for us as pigeons, if there had been equally good evidence that all had descended from one parent-species. Most fanciers believe that they are descended from several primitive stocks. The Rev. E. S. Dixon[367] argues strongly on this side of the question; and one fancier even denounces the opposite conclusion by asking, "Do we not perceive pervading this spirit, the spirit of the _Deist_?" Most naturalists, with the exception of a few, such as Temminck, believe that all the breeds have proceeded from a single species; but authority on such a point {231} goes for little. Fanciers look to all parts of the world as the possible sources of their unknown stocks; thus ignoring the laws of geographical distribution. They know well that the several kinds breed truly even in colour. They assert, but, as we shall see, on very weak grounds, that most of the breeds are extremely ancient. They are strongly impressed 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 Cochin with its many peculiarities, and the Polish fowl with its great top-knot and protuberant skull? But fanciers, whilst admitting and even overrating the effects of crossing the various breeds, do not sufficiently regard the probability of the occasional birth, during the course of centuries, of birds with abnormal and hereditary peculiarities; they overlook the effects of correlation of growth--of the long-continued use and disuse of parts, and of some direct 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 stocks.

An amateur writes[368] as follows. "The fact that poultry have until lately received but little attention at the hands of the fancier, and been entirely confined to the domains of the producer for the market, would alone suggest the improbability of that constant and unremitting attention having been observed in breeding, which is requisite to the consummating, in the offspring of any two birds, transmittable 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 {232} that have five toes and white ears."[369] In the fifteenth century several breeds were known and described in Europe; and in China, at nearly the same period, seven kinds were named. A more striking case is that at present, in one of the Philippine Islands, the semi-barbarous inhabitants have distinct native names for no less than nine sub-breeds of the Game Fowl.[370] Azara,[371] who wrote towards the close of the last century, states that in the interior parts of South America, where I should not have expected that the least care would have been taken of poultry, a black-skinned and black-boned breed is kept, from being considered fertile and its flesh good for sick persons. Now every one who has kept poultry knows how impossible it is to keep several breeds distinct unless the utmost care be taken in separating the sexes. Will it then be pretended that those persons who in ancient times and in semi-civilized countries took pains to keep the breeds distinct, and who therefore valued them, would not occasionally have destroyed inferior birds and occasionally have preserved their best birds? This is all that is required. It is not pretended that any one in ancient times intended to form a new breed, or to modify an old breed according to some ideal standard of excellence. He who cared for poultry would merely wish to obtain, and afterwards to rear, the best birds which he could; but this occasional preservation of the best birds would in the course of time modify the breed, as surely, though by no means as rapidly, as does methodical selection at the present day. If one person out of a hundred or out of a thousand attended to the breeding of his birds, this would be sufficient; for the birds thus tended would soon become superior to others, and would form a new strain; and this strain would, as explained in the last chapter, slowly have its characteristic differences augmented, and at last be converted into a new sub-breed or breed. But breeds would often be for a time neglected and would deteriorate; they would, however, partially retain their character, and afterwards might again come into fashion and be raised to a standard of perfection {233} higher than their former standard; as has actually occurred quite recently with Polish fowls. If, however, a breed were utterly neglected, it would become extinct, as has recently happened with one of the Polish sub-breeds. Whenever in the course of past centuries a bird appeared with some slight abnormal structure, such as with a lark-like crest on its head, it would probably often have been preserved from that love of novelty which leads some persons in England to keep rump-less fowls, and others in India to keep frizzled fowls. And after a time any such abnormal appearance would be carefully preserved, from being esteemed a sign of the purity and excellence of the breed; for on this principle the Romans eighteen centuries ago valued the fifth toe and the white ear-lobe in their fowls.

Thus from the occasional appearance of abnormal characters, though at first only slight in degree; from the effects of the use and the disuse of parts; possibly from the direct effects of changed climate and food; from correlation of growth; from occasional reversions to old and long-lost characters; from the crossing of breeds, when more than one had once been formed; but, above all, from unconscious selection carried on during many generations, there is no insuperable difficulty, to the best of my judgment, in believing that all the breeds have descended from some one parent-source. Can any single species be named from which we may reasonably suppose that all have descended? The _Gallus bankiva_ apparently fulfils every requirement. I have already given as fair an account as I could of the arguments in favour of the multiple origin of the several breeds; and now I will give those in favour of their common descent from _G. bankiva_.

But it will be convenient first briefly to describe all the known
species of Gallus. The _G. Sonneratii_ does not range into the northern
parts of India; according to Colonel Sykes,[372] it presents at
different heights on the Ghauts, two strongly marked varieties, perhaps
deserving to be called species. It was at one time thought to be the
primitive stock of all our domestic breeds, and this shows that it
closely approaches the common fowl in general structure; but its
hackles partially consist of highly peculiar, horny laminae,
transversely banded with three colours; and I have met with no
authentic account of any such character having been observed {234} in
any domestic breed.[373] This species also differs greatly from the
common fowl, in the comb being finely serrated, and in the loins being
destitute of true hackles. Its voice is utterly different. It crosses
readily in India with domestic hens; and Mr. Blyth [374] raised nearly
100 hybrid chickens; but they were tender and mostly died whilst young.
Those which were reared were absolutely sterile when crossed _inter
se_, or with either parent. At the Zoological Gardens, however, some
hybrids of the same parentage were not quite so sterile: Mr. Dixon, as
he informed me, made, with Mr. Yarrell's aid, particular inquiries on
this subject, and was assured that out of 50 eggs only five or six
chickens were reared. Some, however, of these half-bred birds were
crossed with one of their parents, namely, a Bantam, and produced a few
extremely feeble chickens. Mr. Dixon also procured some of these same
birds and crossed them in several ways, but all were more or less
infertile. Nearly similar experiments have recently been tried on a
great scale in the Zoological Gardens with almost the same result.[375]
Out of 500 eggs, raised from various first crosses and hybrids, between
_G. Sonneratii, bankiva_, and _varius_, only 12 chickens were reared,
and of these only three were the product of hybrids _inter se_. From
these facts, and from the above-mentioned strongly-marked differences
in structure between the domestic fowl and _G. Sonneratii_, we may
reject this latter species as the parent of any domestic breed.

Ceylon possesses a fowl peculiar to the island, viz. _G. Stanleyii_;
this species approaches so closely (except in the colouring of the
comb) to the domestic fowl, that Messrs. E. Layard and Kellaert[376]
would have considered it, as they inform me, as one of the
parent-stocks, had it not been for its singularly different voice. This
bird, like the last, crosses readily with tame hens, and even visits
solitary farms and ravishes them. Two hybrids, a male and female, thus
produced, were found by Mr. Mitford to be quite sterile: both inherited
the peculiar voice of _G. Stanleyii_. This species, then, may in all
probability be rejected as one of the primitive stocks of the domestic
fowl.

Java and the islands eastward as far as Flores are inhabited by _G.
varius_ (or _furcatus_), which differs in so many characters--green
plumage, unserrated comb, and single median wattle--that no one
supposes it to have been the parent of any one of our breeds; yet, as I
am informed by Mr. Crawfurd,[377] hybrids are commonly raised between
the male _G. varius_ and the common hen, and are kept for their great
beauty, but are invariably sterile; this, however, was not the case
with some bred in the Zoological Gardens. These hybrids were at one
time thought to {235} be specifically distinct, and were named _G.
aeneus_. Mr. Blyth and others believe that the _G. Temminckii_[378] (of
which the history is not known) is a similar hybrid. Sir J. Brooke sent
me some skins of domestic fowls from Borneo, and across the tail of one
of these, as Mr. Tegetmeier observed, there were transverse blue bands
like those which he had seen on the tail-feathers of hybrids from _G.
varius_, reared in the Zoological Gardens. This fact apparently
indicates that some of the fowls of Borneo have been slightly affected
by crosses with _G. varius_, but the case may possibly be one of
analogous variation. I may just allude to the _G. giganteus_, so often
referred to in works on poultry as a wild species; but Marsden,[379]
the first describer, speaks of it as a tame breed; and the specimen in
the British Museum evidently has the aspect of a domestic variety.

The last species to be mentioned, namely, _Gallus bankiva_, has a much
wider geographical range than the three previous species; it inhabits
Northern India as far west as Sinde, and ascends the Himalaya to a
height of 4000 ft.; it inhabits Burmah, the Malay peninsula, the
Indo-Chinese countries, the Philippine Islands, and the Malayan
archipelago as far eastward as Timor. This species varies considerably
in the wild state. Mr. Blyth informs me that the specimens, both male
and female, brought from near the Himalaya, are rather paler coloured
than those from other parts of India; whilst those from the Malay
peninsula and Java are brighter coloured than the Indian birds. I have
seen specimens from these countries, and the difference of tint in the
hackles was conspicuous. The Malayan hens were a shade redder on the
breast and neck than the Indian hens. The Malayan males generally had a
red ear-lappet, instead of a white one as in India; but Mr. Blyth has
seen one Indian specimen without the white ear-lappet. The legs are
leaden blue in the Indian, whereas they show some tendency to be
yellowish in the Malayan and Javan specimens. In the former Mr. Blyth
finds the tarsus remarkably variable in length. According to
Temminck[380] the Timor specimens differ as a local race from that of
Java. These several wild varieties have not as yet been ranked as
distinct species; if they should, as is not unlikely, be hereafter thus
ranked, the circumstance would be quite immaterial as far as the
parentage and differences of our domestic breeds are concerned. The
wild _G. bankiva_ agrees most closely with the black-breasted red
Game-breed, in colouring and in all other respects, except in being
smaller, and in the tail being carried more horizontally. But the
manner in which the tail is carried is highly variable in many of our
breeds, for, as Mr. Brent informs me, the tail slopes much in the
Malays, is erect in the Games and some other breeds, and is more than
erect in Dorkings, Bantams, &c. There is one other difference, namely,
that in _G. bankiva_, according to Mr. Blyth, the neck-hackles when
first moulted are replaced during two or three months, not by other
{236} hackles, as with our domestic poultry, but by short blackish
feathers.[381] Mr. Brent, however, has remarked that these black
feathers remain in the wild bird after the development of the lower
hackles, and appear in the domestic bird at the same time with them; so
that the only difference is that the lower hackles are replaced more
slowly in the wild than in the tame bird; but as confinement is known
sometimes to affect the masculine plumage, this slight difference
cannot be considered of any importance. It is a significant fact that
the voice of both the male and female _G. bankiva_ closely resembles,
as Mr. Blyth and others have noted, the voice of both sexes of the
common domestic fowl; but the last note of the crow of the wild bird is
rather less prolonged. Captain Hutton, well known for his researches
into the natural history of India, informs me that he has seen several
crossed fowls from the wild species and the Chinese bantam; these
crossed fowls _bred freely_ with bantams, but unfortunately were not
crossed _inter se_. Captain Hutton reared chickens from the eggs of the
_Gallus bankiva_; and these, though at first very wild, afterwards
became so tame that they would crowd round his feet. He did not succeed
in rearing them to maturity; but, as he remarks, "no wild gallinaceous
bird thrives well at first on hard grain." Mr. Blyth also found much
difficulty in keeping _G. bankiva_ in confinement. In the Philippine
Islands, however, the natives must succeed better, as they keep wild
cocks to fight with their domestic game-birds.[382] Sir Walter Elliot
informs me that the hen of a native domestic breed of Pegu is
undistinguishable from the hen of the wild _G. bankiva_; and the
natives constantly catch wild cocks by taking tame cocks to fight with
them in the woods.[383] Mr. Crawfurd remarks that from etymology it
might be argued that the fowl was first domesticated by the Malays and
Javanese.[384] It is also a curious fact, of which I have been assured
by Mr. Blyth, that wild specimens of the _Gallus bankiva_, brought from
the countries east of the Bay of Bengal, are far more easily tamed than
those of India; nor is this an unparalleled fact, for, as Humboldt long
ago remarked, the same species sometimes evinces a more tameable
disposition in one country than in another. If we suppose that the _G.
bankiva_ was first tamed in Malaya and afterwards imported into India,
we can understand an observation made to me by Mr. Blyth, that the
domestic fowls of India do not resemble the wild _G. bankiva_ more
closely than do those of Europe.

From the extremely close resemblance in colour, general structure, and especially in voice, between _Gallus bankiva_ and the Game fowl; from their fertility, as far as this has been ascertained, when crossed; from the possibility of the wild species being tamed, and from its varying in the wild state, we may confidently look at it as the parent of the most typical of all the {237} domestic breeds, namely, the Game-fowl. It is a significant fact, that almost all the naturalists in India, namely, Sir W. Elliot, Mr. S. N. Ward, Mr. Layard, Mr. J. C. Jerdon, and Mr. Blyth,[385] who are familiar with _G. bankiva_, believe that it is the parent of most or all our domestic breeds. But even if it be admitted that _G. bankiva_ is the parent of the Game breed, yet it may be urged that other wild species have been the parents of the other domestic breeds; and that these species still exist, though unknown, in some country, or have become extinct. The extinction, however, of several species of fowls, is an improbable hypothesis, seeing that the four known species have not become extinct in the most anciently and thickly peopled regions of the East. There is, in fact, only one kind of domesticated bird, namely, the Chinese goose or _Anser cygnoides_, of which the wild parent-form is said to be still unknown, or extinct. For the discovery of new, or the rediscovery of old species of Gallus, we must not look, as fanciers often look, to the whole world. The larger gallinaceous birds, as Mr. Blyth has remarked,[386] generally have a restricted range: we see this well illustrated in India, where the genus Gallus inhabits the base of the Himalaya, and is succeeded higher up by Gallophasis, and still higher up by Phasianus. Australia, with its islands, is out of the question as the home for unknown species of the genus. It is, also, as improbable that Gallus should inhabit South America[387] as that a humming-bird should be found in the Old World. From the character of the other gallinaceous {238} birds of Africa, it is not probable that Gallus is an African genus. We need not look to the western parts of Asia, for Messrs. Blyth and Crawfurd, who have attended to this subject, doubt whether Gallus ever existed in a wild state even as far west as Persia. Although the earliest Greek writers speak of the fowl as a Persian bird, this probably merely indicates its line of importation. For the discovery of unknown species we must look to India, to the Indo-Chinese countries, and to the northern parts of the Malay Archipelago. The southern portion of China is the most likely country; but as Mr. Blyth informs me, skins have been exported from China during a long period, and living birds are largely kept there in aviaries, so that any native species of Gallus would probably have become known. Mr. Birch, of the British Museum, has translated for me passages from a Chinese Encyclopaedia published in 1609, but compiled from more ancient documents, in which it is said that fowls are creatures of the West, and were introduced into the East (_i.e._ China) in a dynasty 1400 B.C. Whatever may be thought of so ancient a date, we see that the Indo-Chinese and Indian regions were formerly considered by the Chinese as the source of the domestic fowl. From these several considerations we must look to the present metropolis of the genus, namely, to the south-eastern parts of Asia, for the discovery of species which were formerly domesticated, but are now unknown in the wild state; and the most experienced ornithologists do not consider it probable that such species will be discovered.

In considering whether the domestic breeds are descended from one species, namely, _G. bankiva_, or from several, we must {239} not quite overlook, though we must not exaggerate, the importance of the test of fertility. Most of our domestic breeds have been so often crossed, and their mongrels so largely kept, that it is almost certain, if any degree of infertility had existed between them, it would have been detected. On the other hand, the four known species of Gallus when crossed with each other, or when crossed, with the exception of _G. bankiva_, with the domestic fowl, produce infertile hybrids.

Finally, we have not such good evidence with fowls as with pigeons, of all the breeds having descended from a single primitive stock. In both cases the argument of fertility must go for something; in both we have the improbability of man having succeeded in ancient times in thoroughly domesticating several supposed species,--most of these supposed species being extremely abnormal as compared with their natural allies,--all being now either unknown or extinct, though the parent-form of scarcely any other domesticated bird has been lost. But in searching for the supposed parent-stocks of the various breeds of the pigeon, we were enabled to confine our search to species having peculiar habits of life; whilst with fowls there is nothing in their habits in any marked manner distinct from those of other gallinaceous birds. In the case of pigeons, I have shown that purely-bred birds of every race and the crossed offspring of distinct races frequently resemble, or revert to, the wild rock-pigeon in general colour and in each characteristic mark. With fowls we have facts of a similar nature, but less strongly pronounced, which we will now discuss.

* * * * *

_Reversion and Analogous Variation._--Purely-bred Game, Malay, Cochin, Dorking, Bantam, and, as I hear from Mr. Tegetmeier, Silk fowls, may frequently or occasionally be met with, which are almost identical in plumage with the wild _G. bankiva_. This is a fact well deserving attention, when we reflect that these breeds rank amongst the most distinct. Fowls thus coloured are called by amateurs black-breasted reds. Hamburghs properly have a very different plumage; nevertheless, as Mr. Tegetmeier informs me, "the great difficulty in breeding cocks of the golden-spangled variety is their tendency to have black breasts and red backs." The males of white Bantams and {240} white Cochins, as they come to maturity, often assume a yellowish or saffron tinge; and the longer neck hackles of black bantam cocks,[388] when two or three years old, not uncommonly become ruddy; these latter bantams occasionally "even moult brassy winged, or actually red shouldered." So that in these several cases we see a plain tendency to reversion to the hues of _G. bankiva_, even daring the lifetime of the individual bird. With Spanish, Polish, pencilled Hamburgh, silver-spangled Hamburgh fowls, and with some other less common breeds, I have never heard of a black-breasted red bird having appeared.

From my experience with pigeons, I made the following crosses. I first killed all my own poultry, no others living near my house, and then procured, by Mr. Tegetmeier's assistance, a first-rate black Spanish cock, and hens of the following pure breeds,--white Game, white Cochin, silver-spangled Polish, silver-spangled Hamburgh, silver-pencilled Hamburgh, and white Silk. In none of these breeds is there a trace of red, nor when kept pure have I ever heard of the appearance of a red feather; though such an occurrence would perhaps not be very improbable with white Games and white Cochins. Of the many chickens reared from the above six crosses the majority were black, both in the down and in the first plumage; some were white, and a very few were mottled black and white. In one lot of eleven mixed eggs from the white Game and white Cochin by the black Spanish cock, seven of the chickens were white, and only four black: I mention this fact to show that whiteness of plumage is strongly inherited, and that the belief in the prepotent power in the male to transmit his colour is not always correct. The chickens were hatched in the spring, and in the latter part of August several of the young cocks began to exhibit a change, which with some of them increased during the following years. Thus a young male bird from the silver-spangled Polish hen was in its first plumage coal-black, and combined in its comb, crest, wattle, and beard, the characters of both parents; but when two years old the secondary wing-feathers became largely and symmetrically marked with white, and, wherever in _G. bankiva_ the hackles are red, they were in this bird greenish-black along the shaft, narrowly bordered {241} with brownish-black, and this again broadly bordered with very pale yellowish-brown; so that in general appearance the plumage had become pale-coloured instead of black. In this case, with advancing age there was a great change, but no reversion to the red colour of _G. bankiva_.

A cock with a regular rose comb derived either from the spangled or pencilled silver Hamburgh was likewise at first quite black; but in less than a year the neck-hackles, as in the last case, became whitish, whilst those on the loins assumed a decided reddish-yellow tint; and here we see the first symptom of reversion; this likewise occurred with some other young cocks, which need not here be described. It has also been recorded[389] by a breeder, that he crossed two silver-pencilled Hamburgh hens with a Spanish cock, and reared a number of chickens, all of which were black, the cocks having _golden_ and the hens brownish hackles; so that in this instance likewise there was a clear tendency to reversion.

Two young cocks from my white Game hen were at first snow white; of these, one subsequently assumed pale orange-coloured hackles, chiefly on the loins, and the other an abundance of fine orange-red hackles on the neck, loins, and upper wing-coverts. Here again, we have a more decided, though partial, reversion to the colours of _G. bankiva_. This second cock was in fact coloured like an inferior "pile Game cock;"--now this sub-breed can be produced, as I am informed by Mr. Tegetmeier, by crossing a black-breasted red Game cock with a white Game hen, and the "pile" sub-breed thus produced can afterwards be truly propagated. So that we have the curious fact of the glossy-black Spanish cock and the black-breasted red Game cock when crossed with white Game-hens producing offspring of nearly the same colours.

I reared several birds from the white Silk-hen by the Spanish cock: all were coal-black, and all plainly showed their parentage in having blackish combs and bones; none inherited the so-called silky feathers, and the non-inheritance of this character has been observed by others. The hens never varied in their plumage. As the young cocks grew old, one of them assumed yellowish-white hackles, and thus resembled in a considerable {242} degree the cross from the Hamburgh hen; the other became a gorgeous bird, so much so that an acquaintance had it preserved and stuffed simply from its beauty. When stalking about it closely resembled the wild _Gallus bankiva_, but with the red feathers rather darker. On close comparison one considerable difference presented itself, namely, that the primary and secondary wing-feathers were edged with greenish-black, instead of being edged, as in _G. bankiva_, with fulvous and red tints. The space, also, across the back, which bears dark-green feathers, was broader, and the comb was blackish. In all other respects, even in trifling details of plumage, there was the closest accordance. Altogether it was a marvellous sight to compare this bird first with _G. bankiva_, and then with its father, the glossy green-black Spanish cock, and with its diminutive mother, the white Silk hen. This case of reversion is the more extraordinary as the Spanish breed has long been known to breed true, and no instance is on record of its throwing a single red feather. The Silk hen likewise breeds true, and is believed to be ancient, for Aldrovandi, before 1600, alludes probably to this breed, and describes it as covered with wool. It is so peculiar in many characters that some writers have considered it as specifically distinct; yet, as we now see, when crossed with the Spanish fowl, it yields offspring closely resembling the wild _G. bankiva_.

Mr. Tegetmeier has been so kind as to repeat, at my request, the cross between a Spanish cock and Silk hen, and he obtained similar results; for he thus raised, besides a black hen, seven cocks, all of which were dark-bodied with more or less orange-red hackles. In the ensuing year he paired the black hen with one of her brothers, and raised three young cocks, all coloured like their father, and a black hen mottled with white.

The hens from the six above-described crosses showed hardly any tendency to revert to the mottled-brown plumage of the female _G. bankiva_: one hen, however, from the white Cochin, which was at first coal-black, became slightly brown or sooty. Several hens, which were for a long time snow-white, acquired as they grew old a few black feathers. A hen from the white Game, which was for a long time entirely black glossed with green, when two years old had some of the primary wing-feather greyish-white, and a multitude of feathers over her body {243} narrowly and symmetrically tipped or laced with white. I had expected that some of the chickens whilst covered with down would have assumed the longitudinal stripes so general with gallinaceous birds; but this did not occur in a single instance. Two or three alone were reddish-brown about their heads. I was unfortunate in losing nearly all the white chickens from the first crosses; so that black prevailed with the grandchildren; but they were much diversified in colour, some being sooty, others mottled, and one blackish chicken had its feathers oddly tipped and barred with brown.

I will here add a few miscellaneous facts connected with reversion, and with the law of analogous variation. This law implies, as stated in a previous chapter, that the varieties of one species frequently mock distinct but allied species; and this fact is explained, according to the views which I maintain, on the principle of allied species having descended from one primitive form. The white Silk fowl with black skin and bones degenerates, as has been observed by Mr. Hewitt and Mr. R. Orton, in our climate; that is, it reverts to the ordinary colour of the common fowl in its skin and bones, due care having been taken to prevent any cross. In Germany[390] a distinct breed with black bones, and with black, not silky plumage, has likewise been observed to degenerate.

Mr. Tegetmeier informs me that, when distinct breeds are crossed, fowls are frequently produced with their feathers marked or pencilled by narrow transverse lines of a darker colour. This may be in part explained by direct reversion to the parent-form, the Bankiva hen; for this bird has all its upper plumage finely mottled with dark and rufous brown, with the mottling partially and obscurely arranged in transverse lines. But the tendency to pencilling is probably much strengthened by the law of analogous variation, for the hens of some other species of Gallus are more plainly pencilled, and the hens of many gallinaceous birds belonging to other genera, as the partridge, have pencilled feathers. Mr. Tegetmeier has {244} also remarked to me, that, although with domestic pigeons we have so great a diversity of colouring, we never see either pencilled or spangled feathers; and this fact is intelligible on the law of analogous variation, as neither the wild rock-pigeon nor any closely-allied species has such feathers. The frequent appearance of pencilling in crossed birds probably accounts for the existence of "cuckoo" sub-breeds in the Game, Polish, Dorking, Cochin, Andalusian, and Bantam breeds. The plumage of these birds is slaty-blue or grey, with each feather transversely barred with darker lines, so as to resemble in some degree the plumage of the cuckoo. It is a singular fact, considering that the male of no species of Gallus is in the least barred, that the cuckoo-like plumage has often been transferred to the male, more especially in the cuckoo Dorking; and the fact is all the more singular, as in gold and silver pencilled Hamburghs, in which pencilling is characteristic of the breed, the male is hardly at all pencilled, this kind of plumage being confined to the female.

Another case of analogous variation is the occurrence of spangled sub-breeds of Hamburgh, Polish, Malay, and Bantam fowls. Spangled feathers have a dark mark, properly crescent-shaped, on their tips; whilst pencilled feathers have several transverse bars. The spangling cannot be due to reversion to _G. bankiva_; nor does it often follow, as I hear from Mr. Tegetmeier, from crossing distinct breeds; but it is a case of analogous variation, for many gallinaceous birds have spangled feathers,--for instance, the common pheasant. Hence spangled breeds are often called "pheasant"-fowls. Another case of analogous variation in several domestic breeds is inexplicable; it is, that the chickens, whilst covered with down, of the black Spanish, black Game, black Polish, and black Bantam, all have white throats and breasts, and often have some white on their wings.[391] The editor of the 'Poultry Chronicle'[392] remarks that all the breeds which properly have red ear-lappets occasionally produce birds with white ear-lappets. This remark more especially applies to the Game breed, which of all comes nearest to the {245} _G. bankiva_; and we have seen that with this species living in a state of nature, the ear-lappets vary in colour, being red in the Malayan countries, and generally, but not invariably, white in India.

* * * * *

In concluding this part of my subject I may repeat that there exists one widely-ranging, varying, and common species of Gallus, namely _G. bankiva_, which can be tamed, produces fertile offspring when crossed with common fowls, and closely resembles in its whole structure, plumage, and voice the Game breed; hence it may be safely ranked as the parent of this, the most typical domesticated breed. We have seen that there is much difficulty in believing that other, now unknown, species have been the parents of the other domestic breeds. We know that all the breeds are most closely allied, as shown by their similarity in most points of structure and in habits, and by the analogous manner in which they vary. We have also seen that several of the most distinct breeds occasionally or habitually closely resemble in plumage _G. bankiva_, and that the crossed offspring of other breeds, which are not thus coloured, show a stronger or weaker tendency to revert to this same plumage. Some of the breeds, which appear the most distinct and the least likely to have proceeded from _G. bankiva_, such as Polish fowls, with their protuberant and little ossified skulls, and Cochins, with their imperfect tail and small wings, bear in these characters the plain marks of their artificial origin. We know well that of late years methodical selection has greatly improved and fixed many characters; and we have every reason to believe that unconscious selection, carried on for many generations, will have steadily augmented each new peculiarity and thus have given rise to new breeds. As soon as two or three breeds had once been formed, crossing would come into play in changing their character and in increasing their number. Brahma Pootras, according to an account lately published in America, offer a good instance of a breed, lately formed by a cross, which can be truly propagated. The well-known Sebright Bantams offer another and similar instance. Hence it may be concluded that not only the Game-breed but that all our breeds are probably the descendants of the {246} Malayan or Indian variety of _G. bankiva_. If so, this species has varied greatly since it was first domesticated; but there has been ample time, as we shall now show.

_History of the Fowl._--Ruetimeyer found no remains of the fowl in the ancient Swiss lake-dwellings. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament; nor is it figured on the ancient Egyptian monuments.[393] It is not referred to by Homer or Hesiod (about 900 B.C.); but is mentioned by Theognis and Aristophanes between 400 and 500 B.C. It is figured on some of the Babylonian cylinders, of which Mr. Layard sent me an impression, between the sixth and seventh centuries B.C.; and on the Harpy Tomb in Lycia, about 600 B.C.: so that we may feel pretty confident that the fowl reached Europe somewhere near the sixth century B.C. It had travelled still farther westward by the time of the Christian era, for it was found in Britain by Julius Caesar. In India it must have been domesticated when the Institutes of Manu were written, that is, according to Sir W. Jones, 1200 B.C., but, according to the later authority of Mr. H. Wilson, only 800 B.C., for the domestic fowl is forbidden, whilst the wild is permitted to be eaten. If, as before remarked, we may trust the old Chinese Encyclopaedia, the fowl must have been domesticated several centuries earlier, as it is said to have been introduced from the West into China 1400 B.C.

Sufficient materials do not exist for tracing the history of the separate breeds. About the commencement of the Christian era, {247} Columella mentions a five-toed fighting breed, and some provincial breeds; but we know nothing more about them. He also alludes to dwarf fowls; but these cannot have been the same with our Bantams, which, as Mr. Crawfurd has shown, were imported from Japan into Bantam in Java. A dwarf fowl, probably the true Bantam, is referred to in an old Japanese Encyclopaedia, as I am informed by Mr. Birch. In the Chinese Encyclopaedia published in 1596, but compiled from various sources, some of high antiquity, seven breeds are mentioned, including what we should now call jumpers or creepers, and likewise fowls with black feathers, bones, and flesh. In 1600 Aldrovandi describes seven or eight breeds of fowls, and this is the most ancient record from which the age of our European breeds can be inferred. The _Gallus Turcicus_ certainly seems to be a pencilled Hamburgh; but Mr. Brent, a most capable judge, thinks that Aldrovandi "evidently figured what he happened to see, and not the best of the breed." Mr. Brent, indeed, considers all Aldrovandi's fowls as of impure breed; but it is a far more probable view that all our breeds since his time have been much improved and modified; for, as he went to the expense of so many figures, he probably would have secured characteristic specimens. The Silk fowl, however, probably then existed in its present state, as did almost certainly the fowl with frizzled or reversed feathers. Mr. Dixon[394] considers Aldrovandi's Paduan fowl as "a variety of the Polish," whereas Mr. Brent believes it to have been more nearly allied to the Malay. The anatomical peculiarities of the skull of the Polish breed were noticed by P. Borelli in 1656. I may add that in 1737 one Polish sub-breed, viz. the golden spangled, was known; but judging from Albin's description, the comb was then larger, the crest of feathers much smaller, the breast more coarsely spotted, and the stomach and thighs much blacker: a golden-spangled Polish fowl in this condition would now be of no value.

_Differences in External and Internal Structure between the {248} Breeds: Individual Variability._--Fowls have been exposed to diversified conditions of life, and as we have just seen there has been ample time for much variability and for the slow action of unconscious selection. As there are good grounds for believing that all the breeds are descended from _Gallus bankiva,_ it will be worth while to describe in some detail the chief points of difference. Beginning with the eggs and chickens, I will pass on to the secondary sexual characters, and then to the differences in external structure and in the skeleton. I enter on the following details chiefly to show how variable almost every character has become under domestication.

_Eggs._--Mr. Dixon remarks[395] that "to every hen belongs an
individual peculiarity in the form, colour, and size of her egg, which
never changes during her life-time, so long as she remains in health,
and which is as well known to those who are in the habit of taking her
produce, as the handwriting of their nearest acquaintance." I believe
that this is generally true, and that, if no great number of hens be
kept, the eggs of each can almost always be recognised. The eggs of
differently sized breeds naturally differ much in size; but,
apparently, not always in strict relation to the size of the hen: thus
the Malay is a larger bird than the Spanish, but _generally_ she
produces not such large eggs; white Bantams are said to lay smaller
eggs than other Bantams;[396] white Cochins, on the other hand, as I
hear from Mr. Tegetmeier, certainly lay larger eggs than buff Cochins.
The eggs, however, of the different breeds vary considerably in
character; for instance, Mr. Ballance states[397] that his Malay
"pullets of last year laid eggs equal in size to those of any duck, and
other Malay hens, two or three years old, laid eggs very little larger
than a good-sized Bantam's egg. Some were as white as a Spanish hen's
egg, and others varied from a light cream-colour to a deep rich buff,
or even to a brown." The shape also varies, the two ends being much
more equally rounded in Cochins than in Games or Polish. Spanish fowls
lay smoother eggs than Cochins, of which the eggs are generally
granulated. The shell in this latter breed, and more especially in
Malays, is apt to be thicker than in Games or Spanish; but the
Minorcas, a sub-breed of Spanish, are said to lay harder eggs than true
Spanish.[398] The colour differs considerably,--the Cochins laying
buff-coloured eggs; the Malays {249} a paler variable buff; and Games a
still paler buff. It would appear that darker-coloured eggs
characterise the breeds which have lately come from the East, or are
still closely allied to those now living there. The colour of the yolk,
according to Ferguson, as well as of the shell, differs slightly in the
sub-breeds of the Game, and stands in some degree of correlation with
the colour of the plumage. I am also informed by Mr. Brent that dark
partridge-coloured Cochin hens lay darker coloured eggs than the other
Cochin sub-breeds. The flavour and richness of the egg certainly differ
in different breeds. The productiveness of the several breeds is very
different. Spanish, Polish, and Hamburgh hens have lost the incubating
instinct.