The shape and carriage of the body, and the shape of the head differ much. The beak varies slightly in length and curvature, but incomparably less than with pigeons. In most crested fowls the nostrils offer a remarkable peculiarity in being raised with a crescentic outline. The primary wing- feathers are short in Cochins; in a male, which must have been more than twice as heavy as G. bankiva, these feathers were in both birds of the same length. I have counted, with Mr. Tegetmeier's aid, the primary wing- feathers in thirteen cocks and hens of various breeds; in four of them, namely in two Hamburghs, a Cochin, and Game bantam, there were 10, instead of the normal number 9; but in counting these feathers I have followed the practice of fanciers, and have NOT included the first minute primary feather, barely three-quarters of an inch in length. These feathers differ considerably in relative length, the fourth, or the fifth, or the sixth, being the longest; with the third either equal to, or considerably shorter than the fifth. In wild gallinaceous species the relative length and number of the main wing and tail-feathers are extremely constant. The tail differs much in erectness and size, being small in Malays and very small in Cochins. In thirteen fowls of various breeds which I have examined, five had the normal number of 14 feathers, including in this number the two middle sickle-feathers; six others (viz., a Caffre cock, Gold-spangled Polish cock, Cochin hen, Sultan hen, Game hen and Malay hen had 16; and two (an old Cochin cock and Malay hen) had 17 feathers. The rumpless fowl has no tail and in one which I possessed there was no oil- gland; but this bird though the os coccygis was extremely imperfect, had a vestige of a tail with two rather long feathers in the position of the outer caudals. This bird came from a family where, as I was told, the breed had kept true for twenty years; but rumpless fowls often produce chickens with tails. (7/62. Mr. Hewitt in Tegetmeier 'Poultry Book' 1866 page 231.) An eminent physiologist (7/63. Dr. Broca in Brown-Sequard 'Journal de Phys.' tome 2 page 361.) has recently spoken of this breed as a distinct species; had he examined the deformed state of the os coccyx he would never have come to this conclusion; he was probably misled by the statement, which may be found in some works, that tailless fowls are wild in Ceylon; but this statement, as I have been assured by Mr. Layard and Dr. Kellaert who have so closely studied the birds of Ceylon, is utterly false.