226 SKETCHES OP RURAL AFFAIRS. 



either heated by means of a flue, or built near some 

 warm chimney-back. In some cases, where poultry are 

 kept chiefly as a matter of fancy, much expense and 

 ornament have been bestowed on their dwellings. 



The Royal Poultry House in the Home Farm at 

 Windsor is highly ornamented, at the same time that it 

 is perfectly adapted to the wants of the birds. It was 

 built under the immediate superintendence of the Queen 

 and Prince Albert, and consists of a central pavilion, 

 flanked by roosting places, and breeding and laying 

 nests. From this pavilion all the poultry can be con- 

 veniently inspected, and at the top of it is an elegant 

 pigeon-house lined with looking-glass, in which pigeons 

 delight to gaze while they prune and dress their 

 feathers. A gentle slope in front of the pavilion is 

 divided, by slight wire fences, into wards or places of 

 daily exercise for the fowls, where they have grass-plots 

 and gravel-paths, the latter leading to the entrance of 

 their respective houses. 



The apartments in this poultry-house are light and 

 airy ; the fittings, temperature, and general economy 

 of the house being carefully regulated with reference 

 to the natural habits of the birds. The nests are made 

 to resemble as closely as possible those which the birds 

 would form in a natural state. 



Another and a most magnificent poultry-house is that 

 of Lord Penrhyn, at Winuington, in Cheshire, which, as 

 far as we know, is still appropriated to its original use. 

 This consists of a handsome regular front, extending 

 about one hundred and forty feet, at each extremity of 

 which is a pavilion, having a large arched window. 

 The pavilions are united to the centre of the design by 

 a colon nade of small cast-iron pillars, painted white, 

 which support a cornice, and a slate roof, covering a 

 paved walk and a variety of different conveniences for 

 the poultry, for keeping eggs, corn, &c. The doors into 

 these are all of lattice work, also painted white, and the 

 framing green. In the middle of the front are four 



