10 Cock Ficurine lable to deterioration i nthe same senge as Bankivas, or, effect, as many modern Bankivoid seem to carry an in- finitesimal amount of that blood, and whet ur, eyes, tassels and muffs, feather structure and colour, appear in Eng- lish, Belgian and Spanish fowls, and the speciments are ‘greeted as superior fighters as we have mentioned else- irregular triple combed. ‘There are strong reasons to be- lieve that originally they were purely knobeomb and hhave acquired the peacomb through crossing with Oceanic and subsequent selection, Any game fowl with pea or knobeomb, heavy, high stationed, short winged and ‘massive head bearing the features of tru ALL Ova rin WoRLD au INDIAN GAME FOWL of the Bankiva, ‘The ime entirely neglected while reign Malay and Black Game purposes, souree of wealth and edueation, ‘most productive land. "The Phenician knew the land very ‘well and there are indications that they as well as the ‘Hebrew even established themselves permanently in In India we find three different wild Jungle-fowl, ‘The Gallus Ferrugineus or Bankiva, the Gallus Sonnerati or Gray Jungle cock and the Gallus Lafayetti or Ceylon fowl.42 Cock Fiowmxe ‘There are no traces of the Gallus Varius, the forked Jun- ‘ee fowl of the Sunda islands, We may mention further that many of the animal species common to India are also met with upon Sumatra and Java indicating thet the archipelago end the Asiatic mainland were at one time solidly connected, Not so with the. wild bird species, ve evolved quite locally and while some are typical of the mainland others are ular character, The bird migrates with considerable speed, eonsoquent- ly suffers the variation of climate, food, atmospheric con- ditions, ete, almost suddenly, having no ze itself as the mammal which travels slony f he sources of comfort and appropriate food also permanently affeted by at and consequently i the air, Atmospheric changes may upset the physical ‘means of moving so seriously as to impair considerably ‘thelr success in the struggle for life, That is why ce bird species may be found at given altitudes and ‘mospheric haunts, What happened to the Galli, we believe, nobody ean eay ‘with any certainty, We find the Bankiva near or in the same districts of the Gray, but both are sy i flyer Bankiva and Sonnerati are rom the typical ground dwelling Malay and have also dedicated a full chapter to the diseusson of the infuence of crossing and its prob- able consequence, With this in mind we shall try and de- scribe the Indian game fowl and other Orientals under an aspect, not yet attempted, eo far as we are aware. AuL OvER THE WoRLD 413 ‘We have mentioned already that we consider the small Asi of India & eomposite breed, i.e, obtained through crossing. Barly rs refe it as the purest and old- est breed and no doubt that either moved by sentiment or Jacking better information, their statement ‘appeared to hold good so long as ‘records are concerned. Our study of the gives us the assurance thatthe breed is mam | factured, and that be- the undoubted blood there some of the Bleck Game or Sumatra i that shows now and then in the offspring with marked tenactt Wehave further notic- ed Sumatra features in numerous Asil offshoots and crosses, some of which came black-skinned, ‘This statement is not meant to be- je the pure Asil in the least, but quite to the contrary, the Asil as we is a marked improvement above all game Malays. ‘Western cockers apply the term Asil to the specific indian cock algo known as Lucknow or Rajah owl, India Asil is the term applied to all true game fowl. As such the Haiderabad and Calcutta games are true Asils in the full meaning of the word and Asil are ¢ fight dead game to the bitter end. But we aceustomed to apply that word only to the jah fowl or os it is sometimes termed in India the “Raja-Murgh.” Murgh the term for cock. [Even the finest pieees of poultry litereture make some414 Cock Ficzmine blunder when dealing with the Raja-Murgh, the cause ‘ity of the birds so termed, ks in India to be shown a true 1 shown any fine India game, Dut not a true Asil Murgh. ‘The latter was never 60 abundant as to become common and meny hundreds of noted Indian cockers never saw one and perhaps did even ignore that besides the medium and large stationed cocks there ese Raja-Murghi of from 4 to 5 Ibe., ively by the Princes of Royal blood and high Indian offers, ‘The history of the Raja-Murgh is wrapped in the dens- est mystery, About 1000 B, C, it appears that the aver- age game cock of India in the north and central region carried a streak of the indigenous Bankiva, wl cocks of Kashmir, Indus region, Baluchistan, Afghanistan and Persia were fsitly pure Bankivas, Along the coast there is ain, to which y of these blacks be- cocks and several professional cockers fo attend to breed ing operations and the of the cocks, ‘The hens with such care through their offspring, that f the high mark of quality of their breeding, ALL Oven THE Wont a5 about 75% of the stags produced annually were either kalled off or very seldom disposed of elsewhere, Some of these, of course appeating yet too gond to be killed found their way to the yards of lesser breeders and contributed416 Cock FicuttNc ulation when prone to belittle a dubfous member of an ordinary caste, report: ““Mlan teni, bap keulang jin ke bachehe rang ba-rang.” Which means: “Father game cock (kulang) mother dunghill (teni) product|mix-blood” ‘The true Raja-Murgh is, as stated a small cock, from 4 to 6 tbs. It is very difficlt to deseribe the type end carriage of the Raja fowl, as there are several high-bred strains which vary considerably in station and minor details. In the average they are heavy for their size, all eoncen- trated muscles, sinew and dense bone, though not feeling in hand as Tead, such as is the case with the English Cornish and show Asi, The Rajah Murgh has a pecu- liar spring and when cast to the floor they bounce like if of massive rubber or steel spring. Their movements are fast and measured; their countenance serious and dig- ified. When they go into n, especially if trained after spontaneously in a busi= ightest opportun- Ve are fully con vinced that they ate about the most alive and during a hard fight resort to according to circumstances, To tackle a they will fight in a different style than i small one, and can fight naked heeled with a large flyer in 9 most spectacular way. Rajah Murgh are notoriously tough and hard to kill, fas most Orientals, but we faney that no Malayoid is and serving out 80 deadly strong punches when m the average small Asil. Somehow they seem perfectly indifferent to any of punishing and generally heal from thelr injures ix half the time required for any other. They are desperately ALL Oven THE WoRtD att game! Emphatealy known as such by all who have tried them out in the most eruel way. In Buenos Airs, Argen- tine, cock was cut down with the Argentine short “puon” for nine consecutive days and every day the Asl reepond- cd-with savage determination, During this execution the Asil cock, a gray second rater, suc- [ig ceeded in killing three cocks and | vas. blinked the ninth day, owin 40 his movements badly impaired by an abnorm: colle throat, and he could not dodge as usual, linked, swollen, black in the face from suf , falling constantly on his S** =m 3¢ offered battle and managed to run bis antagonist doym and oat, His last battle and bit last kill Tn India the cocks are tested severely and no amount of sparring appears tobe able to break his his sparring partner is rendered almost inoBensive by tape muffs, but one has to witness the power of Indian Game sharks to be impressed that even the sparrer ray break his antagonist’ nec, as it actually happened ta goin an iden to what kind of test a cock is sub ‘There seems to be no amount of puni that will couse a true Rajah Murgh to quit, He is the rmost desperate true game cock of the word His power is immense, Broad chest, remarksbly fat short back with high inserted wings standing out of the shoulders, very broad hips and slightest inclined ramp418 Cock Ficurine is put behind the bony, are darted out and round in flashy ‘The cock's judgment and appre marvellous and he uses neck and hi tage. The neck is fairly long seen the relation between spur and witig, ‘The longer the ‘wings the more curved the spur. Some Indian cockers neck and saddle hackles do oceur. Such specimens are decried as unable to stand a hard fight,— sve a carriage and station quite ly bad posers, In our breeding career we ceepecially beautiful Asils and though the emer, never could obtain «si serted in this book. Th borne only by a mere volumetric eymetry which is broug! ig in full action, As soon as the bird stands motionless ALL Oven mux Wortp 419 he seems to lose something. Very atror ing. ng specie peared frail in the plate nese ‘There are many dese ie, some of the manuse of Indian Game fow! in In. ts having been properly trans- wait this revelation to Western berless Persian, Arabian and In- ing. the Indian fancier does. not420 Cock Froxning 'on’” is a Hindustani term applied and the “Te fairly Malay but with feathered shanks. ‘Third, the “Kernatak” or “Karaknath,” a breed in ‘which the shin, bones, tongue, eyes and blood are ll black; this breed is useless for fighting. These fowls are probably from the Karnatak, Deccan, just as “sabewar” i the name of a breed of fowls from Sshnwar in Persia. ‘The teat of this breed is the colour of the tongue, which should be black. ‘And fourth, the'‘Aeil” or Indian Game fowl, which Is. kept for fighting only, (It may be mentioned again that ‘a manner of speaking, Aailis applied to all game varie- 5, Kulangs and Rajah Murghi). ‘The manuscript gives then some points of the Asi, thus: “The points of the Indian game cock are, beak white, shanks white, eyes white, and blood-shot (if the white of the eye be slightl ch it does not signify), In one Persian manuscript it is laid down that the shanks ‘must be completely free of red marks,” (Note: ‘The Indian cocker does not allow pink or rosy colour of shanks, considered to be a defect of fleshy feet; a capital defect). “The comb of mediuni size (never loped), the jaw and cheeks Tittle “head” is by some cockers a to the “jaw and cheeks” only), large and hard and wit tle flesh, the bones of the neck small, the whole ns like an iron bar, the pope's nose large, the tail-festhers small, the head and wings not fleshy. Its crow is not as Jong as that of the barn-door cock the end of the crow, — “qzan" ot “bang” especially, is not so long drawn out. ‘The best breed is obtained from Haiderabad, Deccan. ‘The Singapur cocks are also famous: they are called as they have black spurs In an Indian ALL Over THE Wort 4a Persian MS, without name or date, it is stated that the “Chatgami” (Engl. Chittagong) breed, thought fine and large, is not equal to the former, So fer the manuseript. The “Ten isa small Bankiva ‘with traces ofall sort of crossing, Some Asil-bred, others yy and some decidedly with traces of the gray jungle Fair layers of small eggs. Tt is said that they descend from the Jungle fowl, and from game fowl, probe ably the hybrid refuse from the once ie and general demeanor, and are sometimes matched in blunt heels until one invariably runs. Such were the progenitors of the English standard-bred show Malays, Game Malays are to be found in the Deccan and South India and referred to as “Culm” o 4” doubtless from “Kulang” title of the game cock. Nawab Yar Muhammad Khan does not even mention the small Rajah ‘Murghi in his MS, other than referring to it in the gen- eral term of Aail, He states that the best breed is found in Haiderabad, and though the latter are emphatically ‘game and good fighters, they fall far beyond the Raja cock, Of course the latter became so scatee, that at one time422 Cock Ficxinxe it was believed to however, that man extinct, We are glad to inform, ometan breeders still breed and stick to them, as was evidenced by the noted lady-secre- tary of the United Provinces Poultry Association, Luck now, Mrs, A. K, Fawkes, ‘This lady has been very keen and successful in unearthing many points of the Asi’ history and eventually brought « collection of Asils to ‘the World's Poultry Congress, Ottawa, 1927, She is fur- ther constantly on the move to revive interest in the breed and to giv Many Western cockers have heen stunned by the prices asked (which range from 50 to 200 pounds sterling per specimen), but if we consider the extreme difficulty to ob» tain and rear birds, we may well pay the patient Mahometan gentleman a fair price for his favourites Asils are not grown by the doaen as the cocks, they are jewels of cockon, selected, rear ‘rained individuelly under the greatest care and vigilance; —they are worth the price asked. OF course, use your judgment. Every Indian cocker will tll you that his birds are the best, and worse still, believe it, If not sure let yourself be guided by some who knows, ‘ir. A. K. Fawkes, Sutanpur Road, near Di- kasha, Lucknow, In her character of Secretary of the Lucknow Poultry Asso- ciation, Covour: selected for its performance and physical points of excel- Jence, comes in several shades of black-red and completely black. Only four or five strains are accorded the option of supreme quality and purity, ‘These are: (1) Black, Siyah Rompuri. Some of the birds are black from tip to toe with dark face and sometimes com= pletely black eyes, ‘They are not as uniform in type as ‘one would wish, as their breeding region extends very far down South, It is believed that from this strain originat- ALL Oven Tus Woata 428 ed the Halderabed Kulang, and varying in size and car- riage they are sometimes confounded with one another. ‘The true Rampur Game, should be of medium station, and as completely black as possible, though white nails and occasional white feathers in fights and tail are permissi- are very short feathered and often nearly hhenny. Some specimens, ‘head and very short beak, ‘They are good all-round fighters, quick, ative and Murghs are void of wattles but the males have ample dewlap. ‘The hen's throat is cove ed with feathers to the base of beak, ‘The Siyahs sometimes throw albino offspring, uct tensor Ast which in India ate invar ora Killed off. To the Westerner it would be hard to ‘them and eat, and we have had many specimen of these to experiment with. In a common naked heel fight they proved excellent, but for an Indian endurance teat they would lack toughness and go down very soon, One choice cock of ours was always very silent and never crowed during the winter, As all Asils they are faitly monogamous difficult to keep them in flock as the hens will invatiably fight to death if put to- aether, even after secustoming them in coops for many months. ‘They are very tame and comely in sppeerance, but when pairing season arrives it is good to keap them separate mating them only after sure signs indiate mu-44 Cock Froxrae tual affection, If mated strange, it is possible that cock and hen may fight instead of pairing. If to or three hens ‘agree to keep company in a pen, one will invariably boss the lot, but should not be depended to breed right if not kept single penned and the cock allowed to run with each hen for half @ day. Eggs should be carefully removed and replaced by addled ones, though we rather prefer to set less numbers and best quality by not touching them at all (2) Kal-Kat India. This breed or variety is a native of Singapur. ‘They are noted good spurrers, rather more slender than the average Indian Game, and higher in station, Tn the ‘ain dark-red in colour, with white or yellow skin, some- times are found even nearly black with purple sheen, Extremely hard in feather, they are not so angular as the Malay which they resemble in their general make-up. ‘The comb is longer and thinner than in any other Asil breed though a strawberry or knob is not at all rere, ‘They have black spurs, hence their name (Black spurred). ‘Thighs fairly long with powerful shanks, Some of these birds fight sideways with a peculiar pos tion of legs and neck which make them appear as willing to run, Suddenly they dart their shanks out. They are ‘tenacious and clever fighters, aperently not as strong as the heavier birds but i birds, Their resources, ‘marked intelligence. Kaptans are the lighest of Asil, ler than 4 tbs, 4 ox (In Singapur ‘They are of more joyous and sanguine character than Siyahs and may be kept in lots, though not two cocks may be Kept together after showing red in face. They are very prone to fight it out from earliest youth. ‘These ALL Ovir TH Wor.p 425 ‘nd in this again they resemble the Japanese Tuzo All Asi fowl when lifted to a table and touched under the vent, start to preen and ofl themselves with all signs of greatest delight. When Kept far from hens for a long time they dance and wheel around as if courting a hen when the fingers are snapped or encouraged by hissing, Many believe that they are trained to do 80, but all Asils do it like. Some Japs also. Jowe, or grey and. silver duckwings When occasional white cocks are saved from very good strains bred to cle or red hens, offspring are “Ja cocks es exceedingly good binds but are never considered as first raters. ‘They are commonly used in lesser pits, and as the white, prove soft in a long tape fered as Raje- ot class cnckers, Some specimens of ly interesting from the experimenters point of view as they generally display foreign features, due to regression by crossing out. In other points they differ very litle fro igher caste Murghi, their ing short of ‘that of its parents, It is only in the supre they fail, the same as the wh soft in a long fight, While the white are generally finer {in constitution than the darks; the Jawa apparently come large and beefy. It appears, at all lights, that odd coloured Indian Games, Caleuttas and other Asi fowl have been produced as the Jawa or with it ) “Sona-tol or Sonatawel, So-called because226 Cock Frew nine this breed was once sealed and sold to a Nowab for its weight in gold, hence their name which means “gold in value.” ‘They are generally light-reds and orange reds, exceedingly beautiful and their eolour goes not suffer by the presence of white feathers in wings and tails. In- cidentally, most all Asis occasionally show white in fights and sickles, and the Kaptans even show it in irregular spots on the body. ‘Their legs are either white or yellow ‘though the latter is obviously a Malay heir, while the white shanks are present in many pheasants, turkeys, ets. Sona-tols rank among the highest reputed small Asi and are considered a8 good as any, being often crossed with the most appreciated strain, the ‘Khans.’ ‘These birds are surprising in their fighting traits and never- ending efforts to run his adversary down, J more slender than the Khan and a bit higher n they appear to outwit and outguess them to make for the lack of punch; because the Khan is rositivey the strong. estof al strains, Formerly, five decades or more ago, the best cockers of er could agree as to the superiority of either, and while the Sona-tols ae, or rather were, more freq the Khans were higher It appears that at present them for any amount of money, They are a rich man's fowl and unluckily the rich are scarce that still adhere to the old sport, We have some notes concerning a famous coek for which a brand new Crossley car, worth 900 pounds, was blankly refused, from darkc-red to wheaten, but always with dark hhackles. As all Asil, they rank among the w. ‘nd the Indian breeders, though knowing better, do not ALL OvEe THEE Wort ar encourage them to lay just a few eggs more. A few chicks seldom more than ten are got from a hen per year. (5) Amir Khan, ot simply Khon, The latter word reans a heavy or sledge hammer and the name was given them for their notorious mortal punch. If we take into consideration the fact that all Asils are extremely hard hitters, it may be judged Ihow these fowl strike to earn such a name. They are very derksted and breed true to colours nore so than any other is. Legs white or yel- low approgching orange. Shanks, though massive are remarkably dry and hard, armed with a stout spur. Hens are datke-red with black laeing and lossy black hack atest of ll Raja fowls with thick but lean heads, necks like iron rods; broad chests, short backs and wide rounc ‘out and heavily muscled; abdomen short, abruptly cut off behind the legs. Wings very short, Eyes bold, but rather small, well protected by the brows and cheeks, Comb small and thick; earlobes hang ing, characteristic of Malayoid; wattles none, but a mark ed dewiap, Beak is short and stout. Feathers extremely short, showing bare wing butts, breast, thighs an wiry, saddle feathers pointed st oun spt Ran he are the rarest of all Asis, very428 Cook Fioutinc They are tremely dificlt to keep two tear themselves to pieces, and rated in palrs, it being hens together. They never yield in battle, ‘The amount of punishment either hen or cock ean sb- sorb is somewhat ‘These cocks are prime favourites for the or tape fight of India, and when two great cocks met, in yesrs gone by, it always meant a test of several days to decide the battle. At some Instances after the ffth day both cocks were ao badly in- jured that neither could see the other, but they cli and fought it out to the bitter end. What cocks they bred in those days! No amount of punishing, never mind how broken and torn they are, they never quit and are so strong, staunch and game, thet they ean punch fiercely even with the death rattle inthe throat, in their last second of life ALL Over THE Wort 429 HAIDERABAD, MADRAS AND CACUTTA FOWL To do all Indian Game breeders and strains full jus- tice, it would require a large book, We can only just features of each, We have learned rabidi Games are From a racial point of view, they ari to the small Rajeh Murgh, but show more then the-lat- ter thelr Malay origin, being in many points similar to the Shamo Japanese Game, ‘The Game fowl from the Deccan was always reputed a8 dead yame and enormously strong. Every year, from430 Cock Fianna December to February, they are “tested” i, e. fought, naked heel ot taped, They are not, how: ever, submitted to s a severe test as the small Murgh—one day being 2 good average. But consider how these large birds strike and ‘ry, to understand tha it takes a very staunch sgame cock to fe throut 1 tions, their equal being perhaps only in vorue in Japan, and formerly in Malaki and Siam, 01 whe cai At present it appears that Haiderabadi are widely preferred to all other breeds in India, is not everybody's ess to Keep and constently Rajah Murghi, Besides, the ‘great site, the obvious power and general be- haviour of the Haide- rabadi seems to gain considerable favor among the cocking fra- ternity in Indie In fect they are large AuL Over tH Wort 431 Asile in type, high stationed, broad in front and narrow aft, the whole configuration viewed from above re- the ears red (in domes- tie fowls generally protuberent, the ‘head large and square, the neck long, the wings held apart from the body, the chest thrown — FROY out, the tail drooping from the base, the back flat and not ‘ish-backed,’ back and wings viewed from above shaped like a ‘betel’ leaf, the flesh hhard and the body compact, the stalk-bones (shanks) thick and square, In fight the game-cock is staunch ti death. oeyLox 8 iekled lightly by the finger on the stomach about fan inch below the should begin to oi itself (this is a sign of familiarity with men and of fearless. ness. Common fowl do not jowever tame) should be very free and f h man, Its erow432 Cock Ficumne is short and deep. If the cock is young and las been parted for some time from hens, it should ‘dance’ when the fingers are snapped, “There are many breeds of game, vir. . Shaykh Buddhu. The latter is a name given by the vulgar to a son born on ‘Buddh’ or Wednesday. Is the largest fowl, 2. Kal-Katiyo or ‘black-spurred' This is the light- est breed--a famous breed in Singapore—is noted for its activity atti-Tuia, ‘Two cocks of this breed were once spurring cock struck the bedstead and or frame, “4, Sonastol, (Described as Sonatawal under Rajah hi) Amir Khan, snd Muhammad Aié Bey “The Shaykh Buddhu is never the aggressor in fight The sof this breed will stand on the spot they are placed without advancing an inch towards their antagonists, and therefore cocks of this breed ean be turned out loose togther: "Gamecocks are never (regularly speckled throughout). “The game hen lays one, ot at the most two, clutches of eggs in the year.” The Madras is a different bird from the average Haiderabadi, lower in station, broad and powerful. Apparently Asil bred Haiderabadi, or crossed from the Rajah Murgh and the more Malayoid Kulang, Reports of Madras blues appeated in Wright's book that they are somewhat re- ids of Ceplon, for which rea- son many specimens are likewise hemny, The Celoutta games, are large Kulange, mainly de- yellow, nor bandhnu’ AU Oven THE Wort 433 rived from Jawa Murgh and Haiderabadi. ‘There ap- pears to be no uniformity, but most of the fowl that came to South America and many known elsewhere ag Asils (Raja fowl) are cutta fowl, Very good for naked heel fighting, they sometimes prove disappointing, due no doubt to care- leas breeding. CEYLON HENNIES ‘The native word for @ hen is breed gets its name “ ‘These are large, henny feathered Maleys, with knob or strawberry comb, very active and vindictive fighters. larger than the hen, and, ery prone to monogamy. whenee this id to Europe, but there is not the slightest doubt that the birds referred to by Stonehouse, in his book, “Breeds of Poultry,” are Kilkilias, ‘They are fought naked heels and are perfectly game, strong and enduring, ‘The Japanese have a similar variety and perhaps introduced from Ceylon as they in- troduced other Indian Game fowl.434 Coc Ficnmine INDIAN MALAYS here in Central and South In- Instances become rank dung- pensity from earliest youth, ee Nalays are unlike the English birds that go under that name, and though with slightly in- | clined rumps,—not no- ticeable by the hack- elsewhere that they have probably been in- troduced in Indie by trading cockers and cocking before our era, and have sin