4 OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



little ones no longer need their care. With this separate family 

 life there is still in most species of birds concerted action by 

 communities in migrations, in forming colonies, in attacks on 

 other creatures, and in defense from enemies. From the earliest 

 times of which we have knowledge the devotion of birds to 

 their mates and to their young has afforded the most common 

 and most beautiful illustration of family life in nature. 



Place of birds in domestication. The place of birds among 

 domestic animals corresponds to that of garden vegetables, small 

 fruits, and flowers among cultivated plants. The great staple 

 agricultural crops corn, wheat, oats, barley, hay, apples, or- 

 anges, horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, etc. are produced mostly by 

 men who make farming and stock-growing their business. But, 

 while large quantities of garden vegetables, small fruits, flowers, 

 poultry, pigeons, etc. are grown by people who specialize in 

 them, the greater part of the supply in all lands comes from 

 small gardens and small flocks on ordinary farms and in the 

 back yards of town homes. 



Uses of birds in domestication. With the exception of the 

 cage birds and the ostrich, all our domestic birds are valuable 

 for their flesh ; but, as some kinds can be produced more easily 

 and cheaply than others, people growing birds for the table give 

 most attention to those that can be grown most profitably, and 

 the others are grown principally by those who prize them for 

 rarity, beauty, or some peculiar quality. 



The eggs of all birds are edible, but birds differ greatly in the 

 number of eggs that they lay and in the disposition to lay them 

 in places provided for the purpose. So, nearly all who keep 

 birds for their eggs keep fowls, which are the most prolific and 

 most docile, and hens' eggs are the staple eggs in the markets. 



The feathers of birds are used for pillows and beds, for feather 

 dusters, and in various ways for ornament. Except in the case 

 of the ostrich, however, the value of the feathers of domesticated 

 birds is so small that no one grows birds primarily for their 



