September 26, 1S65. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE. GAEDENEE. 



207 



the body of the sinalleBt chicken, aud form around it not only 

 protfctiuu from diimght, but they provide the heat that is 

 csseutiiil to Rrowth. 



Tho machino will shortly bo advertised, and will bo Bcou at 

 work in all its details. It is eciinently ealculated to interest 

 the amateur and man of science. Wo believe it will bo found 

 very profitable to those who look to poultry as part of the 

 moans which jn'ovides a livelihood. — B. 



MORPHOLOGY IN FO^\"LS. 



I AM not myself at all fond of malformations and mon- 

 strosities, but two so peculiar have! just accidentally dropped 

 into my hands, that I send them to your oflicc, as there are 

 individuals who feel an interest in such Ihin^s. 



Both tho birds were killed on the same day by one of our 

 principal poulterers, nor were the parties who plucked them 

 aware of tho eccentricity of either till pointed out to them. 



Tho first singular freak of T'ame Nature was a fuU-grown 

 Duck with two wings on one side and one on tho other. The 

 " double wing " I forward dried, but when just killed, aud 

 consequently pliant, you could open or shut them at pleasure, 

 as they would fold over each other, showing but little singu- 

 larity when closed beyond a common wing, though the flight 

 feathers of each were alike fully formed. 



The same day a well-grown chicken was killed, and proved to 

 be the owner of the two feet sent. They are web-footed entirely 

 between the two external toes, and also much more webbed 

 than usual between the middle and inner toes. When I first 

 saw it tho body was entirely plucked, consequently, thus 

 nude, I can only say no malformation of body existed. The 

 head was evidently that of a well-bred Brahma pullet, pea- 

 combed, and dark-feathered. The two legs, also now forwarded, 

 were at the first densely covered with feathers on the outside, 

 quite 2 inches long ; but unfortunately these were stripped off 

 before I saw it again, and it had occurred to me to send this 

 odd lot to the Journal. Some of the nails of the feet are 

 worthy of attention on account of their close similarity to those 

 of a Duck, the remainder being precisely like those of a common 

 fowl. — E. Hewitt, Eden Cotlaye, SjHirkbrook,near Birmitighani. 



[The malformations are as Mr. Hewitt describes. The double 

 wing is such a duplication as occasionally occurs in all domes- 

 ticated animals ; but the web-footed Brahma Pootra seems 

 something more, and we should have considered it an evidence 

 of an intermixture with the Duck tribe if Mr. Hewitt had not 

 written " No malfoi'miition of the body existed."] 



POINTS OF JJKAHMA POOTKAS, 



I H.\TE at various times placed a protest in your jjages against 

 making colour a prominent point in Brahmas. It appears, 

 however, inevitable, and the important part would seem to be 

 to obtain the best. 



I am led to these remarks by yom- re])ly to " A SnESCKiEEK, 

 Ireland." You there state, " the reddish brown and cinnamon 

 are both objectionable colours." I should agree to this, if this 

 colour were the prevalent tint ; still, I believe I am correct in 

 writing that some breeders prefer an orange tint over the pen- 

 cilling of the breast in the hen. 



I know one of our most successful exhibitors is of this opinion, 

 and I understood him to say that he had kept Brahmas largely 

 in America before they came into fashion here, and that he 

 considered this the correct coloirr. I notice in " The Standard 

 of Excellence," that there is no mention made of this orange 

 colour. My experience of dark Brahmas leads me to say that 

 the cocks may be found of two coloiu's — silvery white, and straw- 

 coloured white hackle, back, and saddle, &c. The former for 

 the most part have the breast black, the latter spotted with 

 white. The former have rarely any bronzing on the wing, the 

 latter, perhaps, always have a touch of this, sometimes vei-y 

 objectionably so ; still, my experience of the shape aud sub- 

 stance of the strawy-colom'ed buds, with the addition of the 

 spotted breast, leads me to prefer these. Dark Brahma hens 

 may be seen, as I believe, of three different colours. I cannot 

 see that One of these is any better than another, whilst I have 

 headed the prize list in tolerably stiff competitions with birds 

 of each variety. 



.The three varieties I have noticed are dark brown pencilling, 

 light grey penciUiug, and dark (almost black) grey pencilling, 

 The first are those that usually have the breast more or less of 



an orange tint, and the ground colour is a very light brown. 

 The liglit grey are exceedingly beautiful birds, tho ground 

 colour 1 take to bo nearly white, tlie pencilling is more distinct, 

 ])ossibly because of the lighter colour of the ground. The 

 breasts are often beautifully pencilled, but are freiiuei]lly quite 

 white — a great defect, as I take it. 



Lastly, let mo notice the dark grey. Here the pencilling is 

 almost black, and tho ground colour is darker. The breast is 

 often very light, almost white, each feather beautifully laced 

 with black or dark grey, making a very pleasing contrast. Tlio 

 head and hackle foatliers are black, though some traces of silver 

 are to be found as the iiacklo apjiroachea the shoulders. I am 

 ilis]iosed to think that some of the best-shaped bh'ds I have 

 ever seen have been of tliis colour, whilst some of my cottage 

 friends tell me they lay better than the other colours. — Y. B. A. Z. 



REGICIDE AMONG BEES. 



H.1VING had some further experience this season of regicidal 

 attacks by bees I propose relating it, and at the same time 

 fulfilling the promise which I made so long ago to consider 

 what has been advanced on the subject by Mr. Lowe in a series 

 of able aud well-written articles which appeared in "our 

 .Journal," and extended throughout the whole of January to 

 the commencement of February in the present year. 



On the 14tli of June I discovered the queen of a nucleus 

 closely imprisoned in a dense cluster of her own workers, and 

 being satisfied by former experience that her life was really in 

 imminent danger, I at once proceeded to release her from her 

 tormentors. As my mode of effecting her deliverance differed 

 from that adopted by Mr. Lowe, who states that he forced the 

 reluctant bees to quit their hold by means of a small twig, I 

 may as well describe it, believing that it is attended with less 

 risk to the valuable life of the hapless prisoner than almost 

 any other. Placing the dense knot of bees gently in the palm 

 of my left hand, I carefully detach the workers one by one 

 with my right hand, and throw them into the air, quietly 

 strolling round the garden in the meantime, so as to baffle 

 them in their attempt to return, and this process is continued 

 imtil the cluster is reduced to vei-y small proportions, and the 

 queen herself becomes distinctly visible. I then convey the 

 remainder in-doors, where I complete the release of the royal 

 captive in front of a closed window, so that if she chance to 

 take wing I may be sure of experiencing no difficulty in re- 

 capturing her. I should add that this operation is always 

 performed by me without gloves, and that it very rarely entails 

 a sting, the chance of which I am, however, perfectly willing 

 to encounter rather than risk entire failiure by clumsily mani- 

 pulating with covered hands. I then subjected the distressed 

 monarch to a milder form of imprisonment in a small cage, 

 and returned her to her hive. I should add that she was a re- 

 markably fine Ligurian queen, only six days old, having been 

 hatched on the 8th of June. 



On the same day I made a similar discovery in the case of 

 another Italian queen, also at the head of a nucleus, aud seven 

 days old, ha\-ing been hatched on the 7th of Jime. I had at 

 once recourse to the same mode of proceeding, and shut her 

 also up in her own hive out of the reach of her relentless 

 persecutors. 



Both these queens were set at liberty the next morning, 

 when, the regicidal frenzy having passed off, they were well 

 received by their worker sisters. 



It is not a little singular that three days afterwards I again 

 found both these queens imprisoned at the same time, when 

 a similar course of treatment on my part was attended mth a 

 like fortunate result, and no attack has since been made upon 

 either of them. The larger of the two queens escaped entirely 

 unscathed, and having commenced egg-laying on the 22nd of 

 Jime is now one of the finest and most fertile I possess ; whilst 

 the other, although with one whig pennanently distorted and 

 constantly projecting iiom her body at right angles, began to 

 lay eggs on the 20th of Jime, aud has since proved herself by 

 no means deficient in fecundity. 



The third instance did not come under my dii'ect observation, 

 but occurred during my absence at the seaside to a young 

 queen of such a-dimiuutive character that she only obtained a 

 reprieve through my excursion. On my return I found she 

 bore the marks of severe im|n'isoument in the mutilation of 

 two of her legs on the left side, and believing her, in the 

 absence of eggs, to be unimpreguated, I soon destroyed her as 

 being altogether useless. A 2>ost-martem examination, although 



