1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



403 



his cdticisms just. We do not believe a hum- 

 ming bird, naked, blind, and so feeble as scarce- 

 ly lo be able to raise its little bill to receive food 

 from its parents, as Mr. Audubon asserts is their 

 condition when hatched, would be able to fly in 

 one week ! Can any reader of the Farmer give 

 us any information upon the subject P Mr. Wa- 

 terton,in continuing his criticisms, says, "A word 

 on the cradle. Mr. Audubon tells us, that the 

 little pieces of lichen, used in forming the nest 

 of the humming bird, are glued together with the 

 saliva of the bird. Fiddle ! The saliva of all 

 birds immediately mixes with water. A single 

 shower of rain would undo all the saliva-glued 

 work on the nest of Mr. Audubon's humming 

 bird." 



Now Audubon is not singular in his belief that 

 the bird in question uses saliva in the finish of 

 its cradle, as the same is asserted by Wilson and 

 Nuttall. Upon the examination with a good glass, 

 of a nest, that has undoubtedly been exposed to 

 storms of rain, we find the coating of lichens 

 fii-mly attached to it. Audubon's description of 

 the humming bird's nest is as follows. "It is of 

 the most delicate nature, the external parts being 

 formed of a light grey lichen, found on the 

 branches of trees, or on decayed fence-rails, and 

 so neatly arranged round the whole nest, as well 

 as to some distance from the spot where it is at- 

 tached, as to seem part of the branch itself. 

 These little pieces of lichen are glued together, 

 with the saliva of the bird. The next coating con- 

 sists of cottoney substance, and the innermost, 

 of silky fibres obtained from various plants." 

 Wilson's description is as follows : "The outward 

 coat is formed of small pieces of bluish grey lich- 

 en, that vegetates on old trees and fences, thick- 

 ly glued on with the saliva of the bird, giving 

 firmness and consistency to the whole, as well as 

 keeping out moisture. Within this are thick, 

 matted layers of the fine wings of certain flying 

 seeds, closely laid together ; and lastly, the dow- 

 ny substance, from the great mullein, and from 

 the stalks of the common fern, lines the whole." 

 Nuttall in describing the nest of the humming 

 bird, says, "it is concealed by an artful imitation 

 of the mossy branch, to which it is firmly at- 

 tached and incorporated. Bluish-grty lichens, 

 agglutinated by saliva, and matched with sur- 

 rounding objects, instinctively form the deceiv- 

 ing external coats ; portions of the cunning ar- 

 chitecture, for further security, are even tied 

 down to the supporting station. Within are laid 

 copious quantities of the pappus or other down 

 of plants ; the inner layer of this exquisite bed, 

 is lurnished with the short wool of the budding 

 Platanus, the mullein, or the soft clothing of un- 

 folding fern-stalks." A nest of our bird lying 

 now before me, is composed mainly of the purple 

 cottony substance, from the stalks of the fern, 

 intermixed with a short fibrous vegetable sub- 

 stance, evidently with the design of holding to- 

 gether the short staple of the fern cotton or 

 down. This fibrous substance seems to be thor- 

 oughly incorporated throughout the entire nest, 

 and as seen on its outside, appears in some de- 

 gree to hold and retain the lichen in its place. 

 Portions of this outside deceptive finish are so 

 firmly attached to the nest, as, when taken from 

 it, to bring away some small parts of the fabric 

 with it, while other portions found detached from 



the nest, remain in their position, by the fibrous 

 substance surrounding them. So that it is at 

 least safe to say to Mr. Waterton as at present 

 informed, that "if the gluten don't stick," the 

 lichen, with its rough edge and surface, is kept in 

 its place by being imbedded into the fibrous cot- 

 ton probably by the bill of the bird. It is there- 

 fore not so clear that the account given by our 

 three most distinguished ornithologists, in the 

 matter of hum-bird gluten, should be considered 

 apocryphal, and be classed with the fabulous ac- 

 counts of the red-throated humming bird, as re- 

 lated by father Chavlevoix or Fernandez Oviedo. 

 Danvers Port, July 19, 1858. 



EAISING AND PICKINQ GEESE. 



When the good motherly goose wishes to set, 

 give her eleven eggs, and shut her away from 

 other geese and ganders. Supply her with food 

 and water — give her grass as well as corn, if the 

 former is sufficiently grown for gathering. In 

 four weeks the young goslings will begin to ap- 

 pear, and will all hatch in a day or two's time. 

 Don't hurry them from the nest, nor be over- 

 anxious to have them eating ; they will be ready 

 for that when they become older. Feed them 

 with a little bread and milk at first — corn meal 

 does not seem to agree with them as well. Let 

 them go to grass and water in pleasant days. A 

 shallow vessel, which they can get in and cut of 

 readily, supplied frequently with clean water, is 

 as good as any, so far as raising geese is con- 

 cerned, though it is less trouble if one has the 

 pond for them. Be sure and shut them up at 

 night, in a warm, dry place, and keep them there 

 until the dew is off, in cold mornings. Shut 

 them up in cold, stormy days, also, feeding them 

 with handfuls of fresh clover. If no accident be- 

 fals them, they will live and grow, without trou- 

 ble. 



There is no machine for picking geese, that 

 ever I heard of; the thumb and finger must do 

 that work. The time to do it is when the feathers 

 are ripe, which occurs about four times during 

 the season. Feathers picked when green — in the 

 pin-feather state — are not fit to put into a bed ; 

 they can not be cured so as to be as light and 

 sweet as ripe feathers are. When picked, put the 

 feathers in a sack made of thin cloth — an old 

 sheet is good — and dry them perfectly in the 

 sun. Afterward, they will keep good in any dry 

 place. — Genesee Farmer. 



ACCOUNTS OF THE CHOPS. 



During the busy period when the crops are 

 growing, and need constant attention, most of 

 our farmers feel obliged to remain pretty con- 

 stantly at home and give them the care which 

 they require, and they can, therefore, only learn 

 what the prospects of the crops are in other sec- 

 tions than their own, through the papers of the 

 day, or by casual reports from travellers. 



We, therefore, invite our correspondents to fa- 

 vor each other and the general reader with such 

 brief reports of the state of the crops, as may be 

 found from Berkshire and Middlesex counties in 

 this paper. 



