Some writers say that this variety is a native of Asia, and that it exists in a domestic state throughout Java, Sumatra, and all the Philippine islands, where it succeeds well. It is, according to such, uncertain in what country it is still found wild. THE GAME FOWL. It is probable that these fowl, like other choice varieties, are natives of India. It is certain that in that country an original race of some fowl exists, at the present day, bearing in full perfection all the peculiar characteristics of the species. In India, as is well known, the natives are infected with a passion for cock-fighting. These fowls are carefully bred for this barbarous amusement, and the finest birds become articles of great value. In Sumatra, the inhabitants are so much addicted to the cruel sports to which these fowls are devoted, that instances are recorded of men staking not only their property upon the issue of a fight, but even their wives and children. The Chinese are likewise passionately fond of this pastime; as, indeed, are all the inhabitants of the Indian countries professing the Mussulman creed. The Romans introduced the practice into Britain, in which country the earliest recorded cock-fight dates back to about the year 1100. In Mexico and the South American countries it is still a national amusement. [Illustration: GRAY GAME FOWLS.] The game fowl is one of the most gracefully formed and beautifully colored of our domestic breeds of poultry; and in its form, aspect, and that extraordinary courage which characterizes its natural disposition, exhibits all that either the naturalist or the sportsman would at once recognize as the purest type of high blood, embodying, in short, all the most indubitable characteristics of gallinaceous aristocracy. It is somewhat inferior in size to other breeds, and in its shape approximates more closely to the elegance and lightness of form usually characteristic of a pure and uncontaminated race. Amongst poultry, he is what the Arabian is amongst horses, the high-bred Short-horn amongst cattle, and the fleet greyhound amongst the canine race. The flesh is beautifully white, as well as tender and delicate. The hens are excellent layers, and although the eggs are under the average size, they are not to be surpassed in excellence of flavor. Such being the character of this variety of fowl, it would doubtless be much more extensively cultivated than it is, were it not for the difficulty attending the rearing of the young; their pugnacity being such, that a brood is scarcely feathered before at least one-half are killed or blinded by fighting.