developed, arises from a fleshy mass, but, when much
developed, from a hemispherical protuberance of the skull. In the best
Polish fowls it is so largely developed, that I have seen birds which could
hardly pick up their food; and a German writer asserts[412] that they are
in consequence liable to be struck by hawks. Monstrous structures of this
kind would thus be suppressed in a state of nature. The wattles, also, vary
much in size, being small in Malays and some other breeds; they are
replaced in certain Polish sub-breeds by a great tuft of feathers called a
beard.

The hackles do not differ much in the various breeds, but are short and
stiff in Malays, and absent in Hennies. As in some orders of birds the
males display extraordinarily-shaped feathers, such as naked shafts with
discs at the end, &c., the following case may be worth giving. In the wild
_Gallus bankiva_ and in our domestic fowls, the barbs which arise from each
side of the extremities of the hackles are naked or not clothed with
barbules, so that they resemble bristles; but Mr. Brent sent me some
scapular hackles from a young Birchen Duckwing Game cock, in which the
naked barbs became densely reclothed with barbules towards their tips; so
that these tips, which were dark coloured with a metallic lustre, were
separated from the lower parts by a symmetrically-shaped transparent zone
formed of the naked portions of the barbs. Hence the coloured tips appeared
like little separate metallic discs.

The sickle-feathers in the tail, of which there are three pair, and which
are eminently characteristic of the male sex, differ much in the various
breeds. They are scimitar-shaped in some Hamburghs, instead of being long
and flowing as in the typical breeds. They are extremely short in Cochins,
and are not at {255} all developed in Hennies. They are carried, together
with the whole tail, erect in Dorkings and Games; but droop much in Malays
and in some Cochins. Sultans are characterized by an additional number of
lateral sickle-feathers. The spurs vary much, being placed higher or lower
on the shank; being extremely long and sharp in Games, and blunt and short
in Cochins. These latter birds seem aware that their spurs are not
efficient weapons; for though they occasionally use them, they more
frequently fight, as I am informed by Mr. Tegetmeier, by seizing and
shaking each other with their beaks. In some Indian Game-cocks, received by
Mr. Brent from Germany, there