262 THE GAME FOWL. 



* * * * At last we missed him, and I always 

 thought the nigger stole him for the sake of the breed. 



The nests of sitting Hens should be made shallow not more 

 than four or five inches deep so that, in stepping in, they may 

 not break the Eggs by a big jump; as they are very apt to 

 do, if the nests are deeper. Another improvement is, to turn 

 the box, that the opening may face the wall. Let the boxes 

 be placed on a platform raised a few inches above the ground, 

 with only two nests between the ports of entrance, that the 

 Hens may not be induced to enter the wrong ones by having 

 to pass them. See diagram : 



x x x Gangway between nests and wall. 

 ABCD Ports of entry. 



Hen No. 1 goes to port A, and turns to the 

 right. No. 2 goes to same port, and turns left, 



and so forth. The advantages of this plan are 

 obvious, for it insures both secresy and repose. 



You ask my views on Chittagongs and Shang- 

 haes. I have partly given them already. The 

 Chittagongs, though they may not breed all alike, 

 are certainly huge and magnificent birds, and 

 _ withal precocious. My young Stag, unlike most 

 other large Fowls, is stately as a monarch*, which he certainly 

 is in my Poultry -yard. One Pullet has already won for her- 

 self " imperishable laurels" as a layer, and the other has 

 already entered the lists. The Shanghaes are very pure-looking, 

 and very beautiful. The Pullet is the handsomest she-fowl 

 I ever saw. She looks like a Durham heifer, if I may force 

 the comparison. But the Stag, poor fellow ! I am afraid is 

 going to die. If he does, look well to your chicken-roost 

 when I come down. He seems very much indisposed, his 

 eyes are watery, and the parts about them swollen, his feet 



