SECTION I. 



General View of the Various Species. 



UNDER the term DOMESTIC POULTRY, in this coun- 

 try, are generally understood the Chicken, or Fowl, 

 Turkey, Duck, Goose, Pea and Guinea Fowl ; to 

 which, perhaps, may be added the Swan. The wild 

 varieties of the above species, of the duck more espe- 

 cially, are objects of pursuit to the sportsman, and to 

 those inhabitants of the sea coasts, and of the vicinities 

 of lakes and rivers, where wild fowl are taken in 

 decoys for market. 



CUSTOMS. 



IN Britain, where a greater quantity of butchers'- 

 meat is consumed than probably in any other part 

 of the world, poultry has ever been deemed a 

 luxury, and consequently not reared in such consi- 

 derable quantities as in France, Egypt, and some 

 other countries, where it is used more as a necessary 

 article of food, than as a delicacy for the sick, or a 

 luxury for the table. In France, poultry forms an 

 important part of the live stock of the farmer, and 



B 



