The primordially striped character is retained by the chickens of most of the Game sub-breeds (Brent, Dixon); by Dorkings; by the partridge and grouse-coloured sub-breeds of Cochins (Brent), but not, as we have seen, by the sub-breeds; by the pheasant-Malay (Dixon), but apparently not (at which I am much surprised) by other Malays. The following breeds and sub-breeds are barely, or not at all, longitudinally striped: viz., gold and silver pencilled Hamburghs, which can hardly be distinguished from each other (Brent) in the down, both having a few dark spots on the head and rump, with occasionally a longitudinal stripe (Dixon) on the back of the neck. I have seen only one chicken of the silver-spangled Hamburgh, and this was obscurely striped along the back. Gold-spangled Polish chickens (Tegetmeier) are of a warm russet brown; and silver-spangled Polish chickens are grey, sometimes (Dixon) with dashes of ochre on the head, wings, and breast. Cuckoo and blue-dun fowls (Dixon) are grey in the down. The chickens of Sebright Bantams (Dixon) are uniformly dark brown, whilst those of the brown- breasted red Game Bantam are black, with some white on the throat and breast. From these facts we see that young chickens of the different breeds, and even of the same main breed, differ much in their downy plumage; and, although longitudinal stripes characterise the young of all wild gallinaceous birds, they disappear in several domestic breeds. Perhaps it may be accepted as a general rule that the more the adult plumage differs from that of the adult G. bankiva, the more completely the chickens have lost their stripes.]
With respect to the period of life at which the characters proper to each breed first appear, it is obvious that such structures as additional toes must be formed long before birth. In Polish fowls, the extraordinary protuberance of the anterior part of the skull is well developed before the chickens come out of the egg (7/40. As I hear from Mr. Tegetmeier; see also 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc.' 1856 page 366. On the late development of the crest see 'Poultry Chronicle' volume 2 page 132.) but the crest, which is supported on the protuberance, is at first feebly developed, nor does it attain its full size until the second year. The Spanish cock is pre-eminent for his magnificent comb, and this is developed at an unusually early age; so that the young males can be distinguished from the females when only a few weeks old, and therefore earlier than in other breeds; they likewise crow very early, namely, when about six weeks old. In the Dutch sub-breed of the Spanish fowl the white ear-lappets are developed earlier than in the common Spanish breed. (7/41. On these points see 'Poultry Chronicle' volume 3 page 166; and Tegetmeier 'Poultry Book' 1866 pages 105 and 121.) Cochins are characterised by a small tail, and in the young cocks the tail is developed at an unusually late period. (7/42. Dixon 'Ornamental and Domestic Poultry' page 273.) Game fowls are notorious for their pugnacity; and the young cocks crow, clap their little wings, and fight obstinately with each other, even whilst under their mother's care. (7/43. Ferguson on 'Rare and Prize Poultry' page 261.) "I have often had," says one author (7/44. Mowbray on 'Poultry' 7th edition 1834 page 13.), "whole broods, scarcely feathered, stone-blind from fighting; the rival couples moping in corners, and renewing their battles on obtaining the first ray of light." The weapons and pugnacity of all male gallinaceous birds evidently serve the purpose of gaining possession of the females; so that the tendency in our Game chickens to fight at an extremely early age is not only useless, but injurious, as they suffer much from their wounds. The training for battle during an early age may be natural to the wild Gallus bankiva; but as man during many generations has gone on selecting the most obstinately pugnacious cocks, it is more probable that their pugnacity has been unnaturally increased, and unnaturally transferred to the young male chickens.