are, as he informs me, three, four, or even
five spurs on each leg. Some Dorkings also have two spurs on each leg;[413]
and in birds of this breed the spur is often placed almost on the outside
of the leg. Double spurs are mentioned in the ancient Chinese Encyclopaedia.
Their occurrence may be considered as a case of analogous variation, for
some wild gallinaceous birds, for instance, the Polyplectron, have double
spurs.

Judging from the differences which generally distinguish the sexes in the
Gallinaceae, certain characters in our domestic fowls appear to have been
transferred from the one sex to the other. In all the species (except in
Turnix), when there is any conspicuous difference in plumage between the
male and female, the male is always the most beautiful; but in
golden-spangled Hamburghs the hen is equally beautiful with the cock, and
incomparably more beautiful than the hen in any natural species of Gallus;
so that here a masculine character has been transferred to the female. On
the other hand, in cuckoo Dorkings and in other cuckoo breeds the
pencilling, which in Gallus is a female attribute, has been transferred to
the male: nor, on the principle of analogous variation, is this
transference surprising, as the males in many gallinaceous genera are
barred or pencilled. With most of these birds head ornaments of all kinds
are more fully developed in the male than in the female; but in Polish
fowls the crest or top-knot, which in the male replaces the comb, is
equally developed in both sexes. In certain {256} sub-breeds, which, from
the hen having a small crest, are called lark-crested, "a single upright
comb sometimes almost entirely takes the place of the crest in the
male."[414] From this latter case, and from some facts presently to be
given with respect to the protuberance of the skull in Polish fowls, the
crest in this breed ought perhaps to be viewed as a feminine character
which has been transferred to the male. In the Spanish breed the male, as
we know, has an immense comb, and this has been partially transferred to
the female, for her comb is unusually large, though not upright. In
Game-fowls the bold and savage disposition of the male has likewise been
largely transferred to the female;[415] and she sometimes even possesses
the eminently masculine character of spurs. Many cases are on record of
hens being furnished with spurs; and in Germany, according to
Bechstein,[416] the spurs in the Silk-hen are