May 14 1874. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



391 



POULTRY, BEE, AKD PIGEON OHRONIOLE. 



MK. WOODHOUSE'S NEST PANS AND FEEDING 



VESSELS FOR PIGEONS. 



"While the iioprovemeut in many varieties of fancy Pigeons 

 and the way in which they have been shown have been great, 

 yet improvements inside their lofts have been very few. The 

 modern show-pens, as seen at Glasgow and the Crystal Palace, 

 as distinguished from the wooden dens of Birmingham, show 

 advance ; and I should like to see a good photograph on a large 

 scale of the next Palace Show, as a guide for other shows, and 

 as a proof to those what that Show is. Then the accuracy of 

 feathering, notably in the Satinette ; the refinement of form, as 

 in the African Owl ; the knowledge of matching which eminent 

 breeders possess, which is in itself quite a science — these things 

 all mark progress in the fancy. But go inside a loft : there is the 

 hopper known and used a hundred years ago, there is the water- 

 bottle alike in plan if not in form, and especially there is the 

 nest pan, just the same as used in the eighteenth century — out 

 of which, it being a sort of miniature hand-basin, if a youug 

 bird tumbles, he is hopelessly overboard, for the side slanting 

 outward renders it impossible for him to get back, and death by 

 cold is the result, if not death by starvation also. Now Mr. 

 "Woodhouse, of Lynn Regis, has brought out and registered 

 a number of variously shaped pans, but all on one principle, 

 and to which I beg to call attention, as they appear to me to be 

 real substantial benefits and improvements, and which, if used, 

 will save many birds from suffering and death, and thus are 

 humane, while they will be profitable to the fancier by his being 

 able to raise more birds, and we all know how disappointing it 

 is to find a half-fledged bird, often the best, dead outside his 

 nest pan. 



and l''eeding Paos. 



I have Been specimens of all the nest pans and feeding vessels 

 of which a photograph is given above. First there is that marked 

 No. 1; this pan is somewhat flatter than most that are used, 

 which is right, as Pigeons do not like a deep nest. The material, 

 I would premise, of both nest pans and feeding vessels is rough 

 ware like that used for flowerpots. Round what would be in 

 other nest pans the edge are a number of concentric circles like 

 steps, only they are hollowed, and if a Pigeon do get out of 

 his nest he will not fall overboard, but on the first step, and 

 he may manage to scramble back again. From the old class of 

 nest pan a fall means to be hopelessly lost unless a hand is near 

 to help. The nest pan marked 2 has one side cut away, and so 

 will fit close to the wall. But those marked 'S are for corner 

 places, the very places where birds are easiest lost, for once over 

 and in a corner the young one is " lost to sight " though he may 

 be "to memory dear." On the whole I cannot but think that 

 these pans are great improvements. 



Next come the feeding pans of various sizes marked 4. The 

 principle upon which they are made is that of the old-fashioned 

 iron pot — narrow at the top, then bulging out. Now, as Pigeons 

 knock the food to right and left with their beaks — and very large 

 and powerful ai'e the beaks of Carriers and Dragoons — they con- 

 stantly scatter the corn and send it over the edge ; this they 

 cannot so easily do out of these feeding pans. I should like to 

 see them adopted at all shows, as the saving of food would be 

 great, and the large-wattled birds would be sure to be fed, whereas 

 when food is scattered ou the floor they are almost starved. Mr. 

 Woodhouse has benefited the fancy by these two plans of his for 

 nests and feeding. — WiLTSHniE Rector. 



HAMBUEGH AND PARTRIDGE HENS LAYING 



IN THE SAME NEST. 



Two or three days ago I found one of my Spangled Hamburgha 



was laying in the orchard. I took four egga from the nest, 



leaving one ; and the next day I found, as I expected, another 



egg, but was much surprised to find a Partridge's egg in as well 

 I took the Hamburgh's and left the Partridge's, and to-day there 

 were three eggs of the latter, and the respective layers were 

 contending who should have the nest. Shall I leave two or 

 three of the Hamburgh's eggs in ? Would the Partridge hatch 

 them ? and is not this a very unusual circumstance ? — F. P. G. 



[The fact you relate is both curious and interesting. We 

 should in your case withdraw the Hamburgh and her eggs, and 

 leave the nest to the Partridge.] 



THE POULTRY-KEEPER.— No. 2. 



THE ANATOMY OP THE HE 1I>. 



The head of the cock, as well as of the hen, is composed of 

 two principal parts — let, the skull is a firm union of bones, 

 which include the upper part, or mandible, of the beak. 2nd, 

 the lower part, or mandible of the beak, being the lower jaw- 

 bone, formed by a single piece. In the skull are the sockets or 

 cavities which contain the eye ; the nostrils are in front of the 

 eye ; the auditory organ, or ear, is behind the eye. The head, 

 excepting the beak, is entirely covered by a fleshy covering^, 

 round which may be seen several appendages or caruncle&^ 

 which are the crest, the two earlobes, and the two ear- wattles. 

 This covering forms the cheeks. 



The colour, the size, the form of each of these parts is variable,, 

 according to the variety, and often serves to characterise each. 



A tuft of short feathers, and called " the tuft," covers the 

 auditory organ. The different parts of the head are shown im 

 fig. 5. 



r' *^"i// 



Fig. 5. 



1, The comb, which surmounts the skull. 2, The wattles, 

 which hang underneath and on each side of the beak. 3, The 

 ear-wattles, which hang under the cheek. 4, The tufts of little 

 feathers which cover and protect the auditory organ. 5, The 

 cheeks, which commence at the beginning of the beak near the 

 nostrils, cover all the face, and re-unite behind the head by a 

 continuation of flesh of the same nature, but covered with 

 feathers. 0, The nostrils, which are at the beginning of the 

 beak. 7, The beak, of which the two parts, the upper and the 

 lower mandible, are horny. 



The comb is straight or drooping. It is single when it ia com- 

 posed of only one piece ; double when there are two alike united 

 or near together ; it is triple when it is formed of two alike and 

 one in the middle ; it is frizzled when full of granulations mo-re 

 or less deep, and erect excrescences ; it is a crown when it is 

 circular, hollow, and indented; it is goblet-shaped when hollow, 

 vascular, and not indented. There are other forms, but they 

 are composed of parts or unions of those particularised. 



SIGNS OF THE QUALITY OF THE FLESH. 



The principal poiuts by which to discern the quality of the 

 flesh in a fowl are the colour of the feet and the kind of skin. 

 The yellow foot generally indicates a fowl with tough flesh, 

 heavy bones, and yellow fat. It is very rare that this colour 

 does not show itself in the skin. However, it does not exclude 

 certain qualities of the flesh in the pure descendants of the two 

 exotic races, Cochin-China and Brahma Pootra. 



With the exception of yellow and green, which can never be 

 recommended, all other colours from black to white are equally 

 indications of an excellent flesh. When the skin, and above 



