That the best of these birds are nothing more than grey Cochins, is proved by the fact that they have been frequently imported from Shanghae with the buff birds, ever since the latter have been introduced, and I know personally that the descendants of Grey Cochins, which were thus introduced into this country before the name of Brahma was ever heard of, have taken prizes as Brahma Pootras; the circumstance that those presented to the Royal Aviary were sent over from America as Grey Shanghaes would alone be sufficient to settle the question. As to the name which has been given to these birds, there is not one tittle of evidence to prove that they ever came from the region of the Brahma Pootra river, which, in the lower part of its course, is within one hundred and fifty miles of Calcutta, running through territory which has long been in the possession of the British; further from its mouth it flows through the country of Assam, to which some years since the East India Company sent two most observant naturalists to report on the natural history of the region, and had any such remarkable fowls existed it is scarcely credible that they could have escaped observation. A further and even more conclusive proof, if one were needed, may be found in their anatomical peculiarities; it is a fact, universally recognized by comparative anatomists, that the distinguishing characters of nearly allied animals are more strongly marked in the bones of the skull than in any other part of the body; if the skull of a Cochin be examined there will be found in the frontal bone, exactly under the base of the comb, a deep narrow groove running from before backwards, this remarkable structure is peculiar to these birds, being found in no other variety whatever, and is as strongly marked in the first named variety of so called Brahmas as in the Buff Cochins.

When it was found that grey birds were realising large sums, every mode of raising them was put in practice; single grey Cochins were mated with buff, and the progeny, when of the desired colour, were sold as Brahmas; in other cases Buff Cochins were paired with light Dorking hens, and many of the selected chicken found their way to the sale room. Under my own eye last season many of these birds were so manufactured; during the autumn, after the breeding for stock purposes was over, a Buff Cochin cock was allowed to run with some Dorking hens, the eggs of the lightest hen were hatched, and the Chicken were all greys, some were clear-legged, some white-legged, others five-toed; but several had well-feathered yellow legs with four toes, and these were undistinguishable from a large number of the birds sold as Brahmas. On examination I found the frontal groove strongly marked, although, as might be expected, in a rather less degree than in a pure bred Cochin.

The birds originating in the Malay or Chittagong cross have been chiefly imported from America, I cannot therefore give the particulars of their manufacture, but the long snaky neck, the upright gait, and the peculiar carriage of the head, render other evidence unnecessary, These birds also have the characteristic frontal groove.

After what has been stated, it will scarcely be expected that any lengthened description of these birds should be given. The best are simply Cochins, and as silver pencilled Shanghaes or Brahma Pootras, they were originally avowedly exhibited at the London shows. The Mongrels have every variety of form and almost of colour; from the most celebrated yards are shewn clear legs and feathered legs; yellow legs, and white legs; pea combs and single combs; white birds, grey birds, and even black birds, all pure Brahmas!! One person writes that they roam over acres, another authority states that they are more domesticated than Cochins; on the one hand, you hear of their laying eggs as large as those of turkeys, and on the other of their being of the average Cochin size; one day they are said to crow like their buff relations, and the next we hear that their voices are much more mellifluous.

My opinion of their merits and demerits may be stated in a few words; of the half breeds I will only say that they are worthless for stock purposes, as they do not breed true to any particular character; of the true grey Cochin I may state, as far as my experience goes, that they are generally leggy compared with the best bred buffs, and that in many of them there is a remarkable tendency (especially in the hens) to accumulate internal abdominal fat, or in other words to “go down behind” a state of things generally terminating in irregularity of the egg organs, which running on into inflammation is frequently fatal; at the same time, however, I have no doubt but that by careful breeding for a season or two they may be produced in every respect equal to the buff birds; Dr. W. C. Gwynne, who has reared them longer than any other amateur in this country, states his conviction that the genuine strain are a very good variety of grey Cochin, without the slightest cross: this verdict respecting them, coming as it does from one of the greatest admirers and most successful rearers of Brahmas, will, I have not the slightest doubt, be eventually universally acquiesced in; with regard to their hardihood as chicken, I may state that the most successful rearer of Cochins in the year 1853, to whose plans I have already alluded, and who spared no expense in getting first rate stock, informs me that he has reared Brahmas and Cochins in the same brood, and that he has not found the former by any means the hardier variety.

Dorkings.—To those who rear chickens for the table there are no fowls so well adapted as the coloured Dorkings; though not remarkable as layers, as sitters and nurses they cannot be surpassed; whilst their large size, plump breasts, short legs, and delicate white flesh, render them the most desirable table birds.

SPECKLED DORKINGS.

Latterly much attention has been paid to this variety, and the result has been that great improvements in their size and good qualities have been effected. The engraving represents one of the old birds, of whom it has been truly said, “Their qualities surpass their charms.” In the improved kinds the head is smaller, the under part of the breast fuller, and the carriage of the bird more elegant, the body being more compact; the feathers are also firmer, and I have found along with this latter character that the birds are hardier and less subject to diseases of the egg organs. Dorkings vary very much in colour, and there is some difficulty in breeding them true to any marking. My own opinion is decidedly in favour of the dark birds, both as to appearance and hardiness, and I think there are no more noble fowls than a heavy, broad-chested, dark Dorking cock and a compact short-legged hen. Dorkings are bred with both single and double, or rose combs, but the former are generally preferred, on the score of appearance. In purchasing Dorkings for stock, broad compact bodies and short white legs, with five toes on each foot, should be regarded as indispensable; the weight of these birds varies very considerably; in the pens which have taken prizes at the recent poultry shows the cocks have usually weighed about ten, and the hens eight pounds, but these weights are beyond the average, and such birds are not generally to be obtained.