STOCK 437 



half the birds that are sent up for examination as " found 

 dead " or " dying " in the spring, or as having been picked 

 out of the bag in the autumn as unfit for food, or suspected 

 of disease. They are all alike undersized, poorly feathered, 

 desperately thin, bare-legged, and badly infested with every 

 form of parasite within and without, and they are in consequence 

 a very fruitful source of parasitic infection to the healthier 

 birds around them, and a fertile soil for the cultivation and 

 dissemination of disease. 



The birds referred to are definitely undersized, their bones 

 are small and thin, their measurements are permanently below 

 the average, they have ceased to grow as chickens when their 

 autumn diet became a winter one, and by the end of October, 

 instead of having enjoyed the full and varied supply of the 

 five fattest food months of the year, they have had that of 

 but three or four. 



Early hatched birds, on the other hand, are barely distin- 

 guishable from their parents by October, or even by September, 

 and when winter comes they are prepared to meet it. They 

 may grow temporarily thinner with starvation, but they can 

 never be undersized. 



Another question of importance in the interests of the 

 stock is that of dealing with the old birds. 



The following remarks show how poor is the general opinion 

 held concerning the value both of old cocks and of old hens. 



Stuart- Wortley in Fur and Feather Series writes : "It 

 is my firm belief that the presence of these useless, and 

 it is no exaggeration to say destructive, birds (i.e., old cocks) 

 has a great deal to do with the scarcity of broods, ajid the low 

 average of stock to be found on elevated Scotch shootings. 



" The older birds interfere with the matrimonial arrange- 

 ments of the younger to the prejudice of the offspring. 



" The old barren hens are bad enough, but the old cocks 

 are the worst, and both must by some means or other be 

 destroyed. ... I would rather poison them than have them 

 on my own ground. 



