Long-crowing chicken breeds are characterised by the unusually long-drawn-out crow of the cocks, which may in some cases last for up to 60 seconds.The oldest references to long-crowing cocks are from China.Long-crowing breeds are found in the Far East, in Turkey, in the Balkans and in western Germany. The earliest reference to long-crowing cocks is in the writings of Li Ji, dating from the reign of Emperor Xuan of Han (75–49 BC). In Japan the first references are from the early eighth century, in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki chronicles.The Bergische Kräher breed of Germany was imported from the Balkans in Mediaeval times. In Russia the Jurlower or Yurlov Crower was bred in the nineteenth century.