492 



A HISTORY OF 



OF BIRDS OF THE POULTRY KIND. 



CHAPTER LXXXVIII. 



OF BIRDS OF THE POULTRY KIND IN GENERAL. 



FROM the most rapacious and noxious 

 tribe' of birds, we make a transition to those 

 which of all others are the most harmless, and 

 the most serviceable to man. He may force 

 the rapacious tribes to assist his pleasures in 

 the field, or induce the smaller warblers to 

 delight him with their singing ; but it is from 

 the poultry kind that he derives the most solid 

 advantages, as they not only make a con- 

 siderable addition to the necessaries of life, 

 but furnish out the greatest delicacies to every 

 entertainment. 



Almost, if not all, the domestic birds of the 

 poultry kind that we maintain in our yards, 

 are of foreign extraction ; but there are others 

 to be ranked in this class that are as yet in a 

 state of nature ; and perhaps only wait till 

 they become sufficiently scarce to be taken 

 under the care of man, to multiply their pro- 

 pagation. It will appear remarkable enough, 

 if we consider how much the tarne poultry 

 which we have imported from distant climates 

 has increased, and how much those wild birds 

 of the poultry kind that have never yet been 

 taken into keeping have been diminished and 

 destroyed. They are all thinned ; and many 

 of the species, especially in the more culti- 

 vated and populous parts of the kingdom, are 

 utterly unseen. 



Under birds of the poultry kind I rank all 

 those that have white flesh, and, comparatively 

 to their head and limbs, have bulky bodies. 

 They are furnished with shorr strong bills for 

 picking up grain, which is their chief and often 

 their only sustenance. Their wings are short 

 and concave ; for v\ Inch reason they are not 

 able to fly far. They lay a great many eggs ; 

 and, as they lead their young abroad the very 



day they are hatched, in quest of food, which 

 they are shown by the mother, and which they 

 pick up for themselves, they generally make 

 tneir nests on the ground. The toes of all 

 these are united by a membrane as far as the 

 first articulation, and then are divided as in 

 those of the former class. 



Under this class we may therefore rank the 

 comnion cock, the peacock, the turkey, the 

 pintada or Guinea-hen, the pheasant, the bus- 

 tard, the grouse, the partridge, and the quail. 

 These all bear a strong similitude to each 

 other, being equally granivorous, fleshy, and 

 delicate to the palate. These are among birds 

 what beasts of pasture are among quadrupeds, 

 peaceable tenants of the field, and shunning 

 the thicker parts of the forest, that abound 

 with numerous animals, who carry on unceas- 

 ing hostilities against them. 



As nature has formed the rapacious class for 

 war, so she seems equally to have fitted these 

 for peace, rest, and society. Their wings are 

 but short, so that they are ill formed for wan- 

 dering from one region to another; their bills 

 are also short, and incapable of annoying their 

 opposers ; their legs are strong, indeed, but 

 their toes are made for scratching up their 

 food, and not for holding or tearing it. These 

 are sufficient indications of their harmless 

 nature ; while their bodies, which are fat and 

 fleshy, render them unwieldy travellers, and 

 incnpable of straying far from each other. 



Accordingly we find them chiefly m society; 

 they live together; and though they may have 

 their disputes, like all other animals, upon 

 som" Kvt-sioris, yet when kept in the same 

 district, or fed in the same yard, they learn 

 the arts of subordination ; and, in proportion 



