. Book VII. BIRDS OF LUXURY. J095 



fed upon tlie same food as the turkey. There were formerly great flocks of bustards in this country 

 upon the wastes and in the wolds, particularly in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, and Dorset, and in various 

 parts of Scotland, where they were hunted with greyhounds, and were easily taken. Buffon was mis- 

 taken in his supposition that these birds are incapable of being propagated in the domestic state, chiefly 

 on account of the difficulty of providing them with proper food, which, in their wild state, he describes to 

 be heath-berries and large earth-worms. Probably the haw or whitethorn berry might succeed equally 

 well. To those who aim at variety and novelty in this line, the bustard appears peculiarly an object for 

 propagation and ijocrease, since the flesh is of unrivalled excellence ; and it is probable this fowl will 

 render great weigtit of flesh for the food consumed. 



Sect. IV. Diseases of Poultry. 



7524. The diseases of poultry are generally the result of improper nourishment and 

 lodging, and the best mode of cure is by the immediate adoption of such as is proper. 

 When that will not succeed, very little help can be derived from medical assistance ; at 

 least as that art stands at present with respect to poultry. In fact, as Mowbray observes, 

 the far greater part of that grave and plausible account of diseases to be found in our 

 'common cattle and poultry books is a farrago of absurdity, the chief ground of which is 

 random and ignorant guess-work. 



7525. Covi77ion fowls are attacked by the pip, roup or catarrh, the flux, constipation, and vermin. The 

 pip is an outside skin or scale, growing on the tip of the tongue, and is cured by tearing off the skin with 

 the nail and rubbing the tongue with salt. Imposthume on the rump is called the roup, which term is 

 also applied to catarrh, to which gallinaceous fowls are very subject. The imposthume is to be opened, the 

 core thrust out, and the part washed with salt and water. Generous food and warmth is the only cure in 

 the catarrh. The flux is to be cured with good solid food ; and its opposite, constipation, with scalded 

 bran mixed with skim-milk or pot liquor, adding a small quantity of sulphur. Vermin appear in conse- 

 quence of low keep and want of cleanliness ; the simplest remedy is to allow plenty of sand and ashes for 

 the birds to roll in, and to keep their houses and roosts sweet and clean, white- washing them two or three 

 times a year. 



7526. The roup is a very common, and one of the most fatal, complaints to which chickens are subject. 

 Those attacked by the disease are constantly coughing and gasping for breath. Upon dissection the wind- 

 pipe is found almost closed up by great numbers of small red worms, which, in a certain stage of their 

 growth, congregate into bundles large enough to stop respiration, and which, if the sufferer cannot dis- 

 charge at the mouth, soon produces suffocation. Decoctions of the common yellow Lin&ria vulgaris {Hort. 

 Brit. 15845.) is given as drink, which, being nauseously bitter, is supposed offensive to the worms ; but 

 perhaps some mercurial preparation, taken inwardly or applied outwardly, would answer the purpose, and, 

 if effectual, would save thousands of chickens every year. This suggestion has never been tried. 



7527. But the catarrh is the chief disease to which chickens and fowls are liable ; and when the malady 

 becomes confirmed with running at the nostrils, swollen eyes, &c. they are termed roupy, and the disease 

 is infectious. They should now be separated, and kept in a warm apartment and well fed. Roupy hens 

 seldom lay, and their eggs are unwholesome. In chickens this disease is called the chip : they are seen 

 shivering, pining, and dying in corners, apparently from cold, though they are in fact in a fever. Abundant 

 warmth and rich food are the only remedies. 



7528. Broken legs, wings, or toes may be set and spliced, and will recover : the head being raw and the 

 eyes blinded from fighting, wash the eyes with milk and water, and the head alternately with brandy in 

 which is a few drops of laudanum, and with fresh butter. A cock's spurs being too long, impeding his 

 walk and wounding his legs, they should be cut carefully with a sharp pen-knife, but not too near the 

 quick, every three months. 



7529. Geese are subject to the gargle, or stoppage in the head, the consequence of cold. House the 

 patient, and give garlic beat up with fresh butter; or toast and ale, with a little confinement, will succeed 

 equally well. 



7530. AH poultry, when young, are apt to be carried off by rats and other vermin, which must either be 

 vigilantly guarded against or destroyed. 



Sect. V. Birds of Luxury which are or may be cultivated by Farmers. 



7531. Birds of luxury include the pigeon, pheasant, partridge, quail, grouse, singing 

 birds, and birds kept as curious objects. 



7532. Of the pigeon (Columba i.) there are three species and many varieties in culti- 

 vation. The species are the common, ring, and turtle doves, all natives of Britain. 

 The varieties of the common pigeon enumerated by Linnaeus amount to twenty-one ; 

 but those of the pigeon-fanciers to more than double that number. The ring-dove (C 

 Palumbus L. ) and the turtle-dove ( C. 7>artur), with the greater number of the varieties, 

 are cultivated only by a few persons, known as pigeon- fanciers ; but the common pigeon 

 of different colours is cultivated for the table. 



7533. The flesh of the young pigeon is very savoury and stimulating, and highly valued for pies ; that of 

 the full.aged pigeon is more substantial, harder of digestion, and in a considerable degree heating. Black 

 or dark feathered pigeons are dark fleshed and of high flavour, inclining to the game bitter of the wild 

 pigeon. Light-coloured feathers denote light and delicate fiesh. The dung of pigeons is used for tanning 

 upper leathers for shoes ; it is also an excellent manure. Pigeons are now much less cultivated than for- 

 merly, being found injurious to corn fields, and especially to fields of peas ; they are, however, very 

 ornamental. A few may be kept by most farmers, and fed with the common poultry; and some who breed 

 domestic fowls on a large scale may, perhaps, find it worth while to add the pigeon to their number. 



7534, The variety of pigeon most suitable for the common pigeon-house is the grey pigeon [fig. 944.), 

 944 ^^ inclining to ash-colour and black, which generally shows fruitfulness 



^^ by the redness of the eyes and feet, and by the ring of gold colour 



which is about the neck. 



7535. The varieties of the fancy breeders are numerous, and dis- 

 tinguished by a variety of different names, as carriers [fig. 945. a), 

 croppers, powters, horsemen, runts, jacobines, turbits, helmets, nuns, 

 tumblers (6), barbs, petits, owls, spots, trumpeters, shakers, turners, 

 finikins, &c. From these, when differently paired, are bred bastard 

 pigeons ; thus from the cropper or powter and the carrier is bred the 

 powting horsemen (c);from the tumbler and the horsemen dragoons, 

 &c. 



4 A 4 



