216 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ March 17, 1870. 



only commended ; while birds which were not noticed at the 

 former show, were first at the latter. I can only account for 

 thia by the different opinions of the judges as to what a 

 Dragoon is. What is wanted is a reoognised standard. The 

 drawing you gave of an Antwerp has greatly pleased all the 

 Antwerp fanciers that I know, as it lays down a decided pattern 

 to breed from. — Frank Graham, Birkenhead. 



[If Mr. Percivall and other Dragoon breeders will send us 

 the information asked for, we shall be obliged ; and if the 

 gentleman we have named will send us a drawing or photo- 

 graph of a standard Dragoon, we will gladly have it engraved 

 and publish it. — Eds.] 



THE ANTWERP PIGEON. 



It is only fair to me that Mr. Noye should have said that which 

 he knew, that when asked by the sub-editor of the Field to select 

 my best bird I declined to do bo, and placed my birds at the 

 disposal of the latter for the time being, when he made choice 

 of the young bird then at Wolverhampton, which had gained a 

 prize, which I regard as an acknowledgement of appreciation of 

 good breeding rather than present perfection. When I sent 

 the bird I forwarded also an old one, which is perfection in 

 every respect but colour, in order that when together it might 

 be seen that the one was not sufficiently developed to be re- 

 garded as perfect, although deficient only in what age can give, 

 and I suggested a representation of the young bird with the 

 lash and wattle of the old one, or the latter shown as having 

 good colour ; and had my suggestion been carried out I think 

 the engravings in the two journals would have been almost 

 identical. 



It may be asked, Have you then set up an ideal standard in 

 The Journal of Horticulture ? We have. The block draw- 

 ing furnished by the Birmingham Columbarian Society is a 

 semi-copy of the portrait of my old bird before mentioned, 

 slightly modified so as to resemble the very blunt bill of Mr. 

 Noje's bird, and in doing so it becomes absolutely true of 

 peiiher, but a compound. But this does not matter; we are 

 justified in concentrating the various excellencies of our bird3 

 into a " standard," because all our desires may be obtained by 

 cartful breeding, and it would be unfair to show such a speci- 

 men as would allow a few to take their ease in monopoly of 

 prize money. 



My friend says that my birds were unnoticed at our Society's 

 last Show. So they were. If it be true that suoh Antwerps 

 are not to be found elsewhere equal to those nossessed by 

 members of this Society collectively, it would be strange if some 

 were not noticed, for in such times awarding prizes to the best 

 birds is no easy task ; but if I did not win there, I am glad he 

 did, because it is as much to my pleasure that my old bird 

 bred his crack as for him to beat me with it, and as Antwerps 

 require age for development, how shall my youngster compete 

 with his five or six-year-old bird? I confess he is the best 

 bird I know, as he has exquisite colour, and every excellence 

 age can give a bird of this breed. 



There would have been more of forbearance and kindly feel- 

 ing had Mr. Noje not referred to my Glasgow prize birds, be- 

 cause, on the eve of my sending them, he said, " Mr. Bradley, 

 who will beat them?" and after the show, reminded me of 

 his prediction. 



In conclusion, I beg to thank you for your assistance in a 

 woik so much needed, and which will, I trust, be of service to 

 judges in awarding prizes to deserving birds which have only 

 recently found a place in the prize lists of public shows, and 

 also for permitting me to so express myself as to free my 

 fellow members of the suspicion of acting in any underhand 

 manner either to yourself or the public generally.— J. I. Brad- 

 ley, Birmingham. 



[We cannot insert any more notes on this subject.— Eds.] 



THE WILD TURKEY. 



The Wild Turkey (Meleagris Gallopavo) is a magnificent bird, 

 and although now found almost throughout the globe by the 

 process of domestication and naturalisation, is one of the many 

 gifts of America to the old world, which fact at one time was 

 nearly forgotten, as its origin was involved iu obscurity, and 

 doubt expressed as to its native country. Thus, such men as 

 Belon, Aldrovandi, Gesner, Ray, Ice., thought it came originally 

 from the East Indies, and endeavoured to recognise it in some of 

 the domestic birds of the ancients. " In so losing sight of the 



origin of this bird, we see a strong, exemplification of the un- 

 grateful disposition of man, who can treasure up the memory of 

 wTongs and injuries, but fails to recollect the greatest benefits he 

 has received." 



The Turkey was first introduced by the Spaniards from 

 Mexico into Spain, and thence into England. In the reign of 

 Francis I. they were imported into France, and the first one eaten 

 in that country was served up at the banquet given at the wed- 

 ding of Charles IX. in 1570. Bred with much care they rapidly 

 increased, and soon were taken into Asia and Africa. It would be 

 difficult to ascertain why its popular name was given to this bird, 

 and it is to be somewhat regTetted that such an appellation should 

 ever have fallen to its lot, since it is apt to give rise to the suppo- 

 sition that it originated in Asia instead of America, the eastern in 

 place of the western hemisphere — not so much to be regretted, 

 however, at the present time as formerly, for-since ornithology 

 has taken its rightful place among the sciences, and its hidden 

 things been investigated and explained by the researches of so 

 many able minds, the results of whose labours dignify and elevate 

 their subject, the origin of so noble a bird is not liable ever aiain 

 to be lost sight of. At one time the Turkey was pretty generally 

 distributed throughout the United States, but, like the Indian, it 

 has gradually disappeared before the onward march of civilisation, 

 until now one must look for it amid the unsettled portions of our 

 western State?, and the vast regions through which the Missis- 

 sippi, Missouri, and their tributaries flow. It is still quite plentiful 

 in the southern States, many parts of which are yet covered with 

 the virgin forest, while in the middle and northern States it has 

 almost disappeared. 



The Turkey is considered as both migratory and gregarious ; 

 the first of these circumstances arising mainly from the exhaus- 

 tion of its favourite food in any particular section of country, or 

 upon the opposite fact of there being a great abundance of it in 

 some other place. When this last is the cause of Turkeys' migra- 

 tion they seem to he insensibly led toward the land of plenty by 

 finding the supply increase as they advance, and not from any 

 particular instinct of their own. Their food consists of maize, 

 berries, fruits, grasses, acorns, and in that part of the country 

 where it abounds, the pecan nut is preferred by them to every- 

 thing else, j 



Audubon states that when he removed into Kentucky, rather 

 more than a quarter of a century ago, Turkeys were so abundant 

 that the price of them in the market was not equal to that of a 

 common barn fowl now ; and that he has seen them offered for 

 the sum of threepence each, the birds weighing from 1 to 12 lbs. 

 The average weight of this splendid bird is about 15 to 18 lbs , 

 (I speak of the male), and of the female from 9 to 10 lbs. Some 

 gobblers have been known to weigh much more than this estimate, 

 and instances are not wanting where individuals have been ob- 

 tained weighing 30 and 40 lbs. each, but this is rare. When full 

 grown the male will measure 4 feet in length and nearly 5 feet in 

 the stretch of its wings. The naked skin ot the head and neck is 

 blue, with the wattles red, as are also the legs. The feathers of 

 the neck and body generally are of a coppery bronze, changing in 

 some lights to a greenish or purplish shade, and margined with 

 an opaque line of velvet black. The back and rump are also 

 black, with little reflection, while the sides, together with the 

 upper and under tail coverts, are dark chestnut, barred with black, 

 near the end, and having metallic reflections of a rich purplish hue 

 while the extreme tips are opaque purplish chestnut. The tail 

 feathers are dark chestnut barred with black, and tipped with a 

 light chestnut. Hear the end is a band of black, broadest on the 

 outer feathers, and nan-owing as it approaches the central ones. 

 Between the bars on the feathers is a confused sprinkling of black. 

 Neither upon the tail nor its coverts is there any white, and this 

 is one of the ways by which the wild Turkey can always be 

 distinguished from the domesticated. From the centre of the 

 breast hangs a coarse hairy tuft, not usually found in the other 

 sex. The female differs principally in being smaller in size, less 

 brilliant in colour, absence of the spur, and the small fleshy pro- 

 cess at the base of the bill. — (Boston Cultivator.) 



NOTES ON CANARY SHOWS. 



On reading Mr. Blakston's remarks relative to the Crystal 

 Palace Bird Show, I am strongly of opinion that he has omitted 

 a very important ease — viz., classing Ticked and Evenly-marked 

 Belgians together. As a breeder of Belgians myself, I think it 

 an unjust class to the fanciers of these favourite birds. I could 

 have sent half a dozen Evenly-marked birds to the Crystal 

 Palace Show, but did not, considering it unfair to show them 

 along with Ticked birds, as it is a well-known fact that the 



