MANAGEMENT OF FOWLS. 65 



do, the wicket must be of proportional size. My readers, I 

 hope, will not be offended at a hint that a hole that will admit 

 a Turkey, "will also allow a Hen to pass; and that there is no 

 need to make a smaller aperture by the side of the larger, 

 unless they like the look of it. A first-rate lock can do no 

 harm on the door, as Columella advises, "That no cats or 

 snakes have access to the birds, and that other equally noxious 

 pests* be kept at a distance." Possibly even in classical times 

 there were such creatures as fowl-stealers. 



With peace and plenty the newly arrived young Fowls will 

 thrive apace. Soon after they are full-grown, the comb both 

 of the Cock and the Hens will be observed to become of a more 

 brilliant red, the Cock will crow more lustily, and with more 

 of a canto fermo than before, the Hens will grow animated, 

 restless, full of busy importance, as if a new idea had lately 

 broke in upon their minds. By-and-by they will commence 

 prating and cackling, and in a few days the delighted Pullet 

 will lay her first egg. It is hard to say which receives the 

 most pleasure at contemplating the smooth, immaculate pro- 

 duction, the Hen or her amateur owner, f And when, time 

 after time, the first instalment is followed by similar deposits, 

 she thinks herself, and is thought, a perfect paragon. Such 

 are the pleasures of productiveness. Those whose inherited 

 wealth comes to them quarterly or annually, without any 

 thought or exertion on their part, have no conception how 

 bright and beautiful the money looks of which they can say, 

 "I have fairly and honestly earned it; I have done something 

 useful for it." So with the Hen ; she is an industrious little 

 save-all. She rescues from waste many a minute portion of 



* "Pestis, a rogue, a villain." Ainsworth's Dictionary. 



f The very first egg, however, which a Pullet lays is seldom quite 

 immaculate, but bears marks of the effort it has cost : those subse- 

 quently laid appear with greater purity. 



6* 



