May 23, 1872. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEK. 



435 



cackling complained of only happened when a hen had laid an 

 C" that the fowls were regularly cleaned, and no effluvia nor 

 smeU arose from their excrement. The latter part of this 

 testimony was con-oborated by ilr. Lightfoot Inspector of 

 Nuisances. After a patient hearing his Honour iii;rected a non- 

 suit, allowing defendant's attorney's fees, stating that the nuis- 

 ance complained of, both as to noise and smell, was entirely one 

 of decree; and he did not consider that the defendant had so 

 exceeded the right which' he possessed of turning his property 

 to the best advantage as to entitle the plaintiff to a verdict.— 

 Wilts Chroyiide.) 



TUMBLING PIGEONS. 

 -Rkx, other engagements not prevented me I should have 

 replied sooner to " -Wiltshire Eectob's " remarks on my letter 

 at page 376, not parHcularly in reference to the tumbling of 

 Short-faced birds, but rather as to the tumbbng faculty m dit- 

 fereut breeds of birds, on which point I think that W iltshike 

 Rector " is entirely wrong in theory. He is evidently of opimon 

 that tumbUng is of two kinds— voluntai-y and iuvoluntary--m 

 the high-flying variety a matter of fun and frolic, and m the 

 EoUer and House Tumbler, a Pigeon disease, akin probably to 

 St Vitus's dance in the human species. I hold an entirely dif- 

 ferent opimon— viz., that in every case the tumbling is a purely 

 involuntary action. The flying may be a matter of fun and frobc, 

 the tumbhng never. The skill is not in losing the equilibrium, 

 but in regaining it. , , , ^ i i. 



In case it may be thought that I make the above statement 

 ■with an imperfect knowledge of the subject, I may state that 

 my experience is at least half as long as " Wiltshtre Eectob s ; 

 and that although mv observations have been chiefly made on 

 one variety of the tumbling bird, yet that there is in it a sutti- 

 cient field for accurate investigation may be gathered from the 

 fact that I have, at different times, possessed birds in which aU 

 the after-mentioned peculiarities had been noted. . 



1st Of birds that would only tumble when high m the air I 

 have had some that did so frequently, others only seldom ; some 

 that did it without dropping apparently m the shghtest others 

 where the tumble was always followed by a heavy fall down- 

 wards • some where the performance was noiseless, and others 

 where it was always preceded by a loud flapping of wings ; many 

 •where the tumbles were always single, and only one that 1 

 recoUect of which roUed, which I imderstand means a number 

 of turns without any clear or distinct break between each. 



2nd, Of birds showing marked individual characteristics I 

 had one that could come down from a height of 6 feet or so out- 

 side only with a roU of three or four tui-ns, and to get up to the 

 same height would have first to make three or four futile at- 

 tempts : vet the same bird, although nesting at a greater height 

 inside l"never knew to tumble or roll in the loft, and also if 

 taken to some Httle distance from home would rise nght into 

 the air, and get back without giving a single tumble. In con- 

 trast to the preceding, I had another which would fly from my 

 courtvard to the top of my dwelling-house -nith perfect ease, 

 but if" taken into my garden, which was only separated from the 

 yard by a wooden railing not more than 3J feet high, no matter 

 how close to the railing, it could not fly over for tumbling. 

 One I had which tumbled very weU inside the loft, going clear 

 over, but outside when high in the ah- only backed. Some I 

 have had which would occasionally tumble weU mside the loft, 

 particularly when going to nest, at other times not at aU ; others 

 I have had which would tumble any hour of the day, and any 

 day of the year. ,.,,,. 



I have watched aU caretuUy, have studied their various pecu- 

 liarities with minuteness, and where possible have appUed tests, 

 the result of which is, that no matter how easUy the tumbling 

 may be done, or how seldom, I am thoroughly persuaded that 

 not one of them does it when it can help it. That good flying 

 Tumblers become quite indifferent to it, and acquire both skill 

 and confidence in catching themselves up agam, Iqmte admit ; 

 but whether the cause be a giddiness in the head or not I cannot 

 say 0>ut inchne to think so from having seen some House 

 Tumblers when too much flurried show a shghtly tremulous 

 motion in the head and neck), but that the cause is the same m 

 everj- case I am thoroughly satisfied. , t. n -i 



That my theory is correct in so far as it relates to EoUers and 

 House Tumblers " Wn-TsmBE Eectok " admits, and the proof 

 is not ill to find, as, although I have almost no expenence of 

 EoUers, I understand that such a casualty as that of a bird 

 rolling so far as to be seriously iujured or even killed is not of 

 nnfrequent occurrence, which would scarcely happen "the 

 action were a voluntary one ; and in the case of House Tumblers 

 we find birds which rarely use their wings unless when forced 

 to do so, or when under the influence of strong excitement, such 

 as that of a cock attempting to foUow a hen which he is driving 

 and which lias flo-n-n away from him. In either case the attempt 

 would not be foDowed by such a fruitless efiort if the bird had 

 power to do otherwise. This last class, however, throw birds 

 iegulariy which wiU fly as freely, tumble seemingly as sportively, 

 and at the same time acquire as much skill in picking them- 



selves up afain as anv other known breed ; and for my part I 

 cannot see why it shoijd be supposed that the cause of the same 

 performance in the case of the progeny shoiUd be different from 

 what it undoubtedly is in the case of the parent. 



Another evidence I wiU endeavour to adduce from the pecuhar 

 flieht of tumbling birds, and this to many minds will be a more 



' satisfactory one, as I think that all who may have birds winch 

 do tumble in their possession, will be able to observe it for them- 



' selves— at least I have noted it in birds which had neither the 

 blood of the Eoller nor of the Scotch breed within theu- veins, 



1 and where the performance only came up to a very moderate 

 standard ; in fact, Uttle more could be said about it than that 



1 they did tumble, but from my point of view, at intervals tew 



\ and far between." The pecuUarity to which I aUude is a hover- 

 ing in the air, accompanied by a tremulous motion of the wings, 

 dunng which, if progi-ess is made at all, it is by no means so 

 fast as at other times, and I think it is generally in an upward 

 direction if the birds are taking a flight. It is from this cause 

 principaUy that it is impossible to tram other breeds to fly 

 alon" with Tumblers without spoiHng the beauty of the flight, 

 as the Tumblers are invariably outpaced and disorder ensues. 

 The singularity of the Tumbler's flight in this respect, I am 

 satisfied? proceeds from the bird steadying itself while en- 

 deavouring to overcome the inclination to tumble, of which at 

 least, partial evidence is afforded from the fact that the peciJiar 

 motion is frequently followed by a tumble, and to my mmd is 

 fully proved bv the fact that the same unusual motions are 

 obs;i4d amoig House Tumb ers which can fly in the oft, 

 and these undoubtedly proceed from the cause which I have 



^ I think the foregoing should be convincing proof thatin no case 

 is tumbUng voluntarv, at least to those who like " Wiltshibe 

 Eectob " ^?m follow 6ut the subject by cai'eful observation; but 

 to those who mav still doubt it, I would say. Let them do as I 

 have done, study the tumbling of every bird individually let 

 them mark off such as give them satisfactory proof that the 

 acti^^an involuntary one, and I think from the small num- 

 ber of the others which WiU soon be left, that they will speedily 

 be convinced. Merely as an indication of the piiBCiples on 

 which observations may be made, I would say. At once mark-oft 

 all cocks which tumble while dii^-mg the hen to nest, as tumb- 

 Ung always loses time, and every cock is at that season too 

 aniious to keep close to his mate to do so voluntarily ; and the 

 fact that many birds tumble better then than at any other time, 

 ischiefly^^g to the extra dash ^-ith which they fly m the 



'^"wS^^fmBE Eectob" thinks he differs with me in taste, 

 and I admit he does so to a certain degree, but not to such an 

 extent as he obviously imagines, as I wiU endeavour to show in 

 th- coiise of a subsequent letter or letters, as oppn-tunity may 

 occ^Tnd La which I shaU endeavour to explain my views on 

 the^ubjTct of the Scotch House and Air Timibler.-ScoTCH 

 Thistle. 



The Botal Counties (H-ists .«d Beeks) Ageiccltt^.u. So- 

 ciET?hold their annual Exhibition of poulty, P'Seons Eabbits 

 i^.Hn the Home Park, Windsor, on the 26th, 2/th, and 28th o 

 Juile The Exhibition has the immediate patronage of Hei 

 aSesty who has given substantial proof of her desire to promote 

 ifs utSests In addition to the usual attractions a grand floral 

 and horScituSl fete wiU be held in the show yai^: Messrs^ 

 Turner of Slough, take an active part in the management. Ifie 

 S^iSsement fn Mother part of oui- paper gives fuU particulars. 



Weight of EoGS.-Seeinganotein the "Poultry Chronicle," 

 of Ma ch 28th, that a dozen If the eggs f^'-Brahmas weighed 

 26 ozs led me to weigh a dozen of mine from my prize Creve 

 C»ur and I am pleased to inform you that they. exceed the 

 SSimas by 6 ozs^ I have now a few dozens which average 

 32 ozs. per dozen. — FAjiSv Hopiass. 



DEONE-BEARING. 



Why are not drones raised at certain seasons of the year when 

 they are not needed ? Is it because the queen does "ot deposit 

 e"S in the drone ceUs ? By what I have observed I am 

 fSoi^bly convinced that the 'queen -i^ ^epasit eggs m c^one 

 ceUs at any time of the year, just as readUy as m worker cells, 

 buTas droles are not needed the worker bees enter the ceUs 

 and eat up the eggs. I wUl state what I have observed. 



One year ago last faU, after the drones were kiUed off, I 

 opened^e ot my hives which had a glass in the -de, and saw 

 the queen on the outside sheet of the comb next to the glas, 

 depoluin" eggs. About one-haU of this comb was worker comb^ 

 and the othel'^aU drone comb.. The l^^een first deposited eg|S 

 in the worker ceUs, then, passing over on *,^;1«'"« 'L"^^^^^ 

 denosited eggs in the drone comb. Wondering whether droiies 

 would be ratfedso late in the season I ^^'f ^l*^^ //r/.feom 

 the bees closely. In about haU an hour the worker bees com- 



