2-SO LETTER XLIV. 



humanity an indelible stain. In this country it was 

 once a favourite pastime; but to the credit of the pre- 

 sent age, it is very much on the decline, and it is to 

 be hajied that the period is not far distant when it will 

 be exploded even among the vulgar. 



The hen, if well supplied with food and water, is 

 said to lay about two hundred eggs in a year, which 

 shews the importance of this bird in domestic econo- 

 my. . As a parent she excites admiration; for her af- 

 fection towards her offspring, divests her of her na- 

 tural timidity> and gives her both courage and 

 strength. For the protection of her chicken she will 

 venture to attack the horse, the hog, or the mastiff, 

 and will not hesitate to fly at the fox. 



It is a curious circumstance in the history of this 

 bird, that at Grand Cairo they have a method of 

 hatching eggs by an artificial heat, and thus produce 

 six or seven thousand at a time. Being brought forth 

 in a mild spring, which is warmer than our summer, 

 the chickens thrive very well. It does not however 

 appear that this could be carried into effect with suc- 

 cess in our cold and variable climate, where although 

 the little animals might be hatched without much dil- 

 ficulty, the greatest part of them would, in all proba- 

 bility, perish soon after their exclusion from the shell. 



THE TURKEY 



is one of the most remarkable birds in the poultry 

 yard, on account of the singular appearance of its 

 head, as well as of some habits almost peculiar to 

 itself. 



In this country the turkey when young is exceed- 

 ing tender, and is reared with great difficulty ; yet in 

 its wild state it abounds in the forests of Canada, 

 where the ground is covered with snow almost three 

 parts of the year. In lh-ir native woods they are also 

 much larger as well as mere hardy than in a state oi 

 domestication. ]'u ber-mtv also they far excel the Eu- 

 ropean breed. Their leathers, which are of a dark 

 grey, and bordered at the edge with a bright gold co- 

 lour, are woven by the savages of the country 

 cloaks for the ornament of theic persons. 



