GENERAL VIEWS. 



CHAPTER I. 



GENERAL VIEWS: DOMESTIC POULTRY. 



UNDER the term Domestic Poultry, are un- 

 derstood the cock and hen, turkey, duck, goose, 

 pea and guinea fowl, to which perhaps may be 

 added, the swan. Although fowls used for the 

 table are, by nature, granivorous, yet all the va- 

 rious species, the goose perhaps excepted, are 

 carnivorous likewise, and great devourers of fish 

 and flesh. 



By propagation and crossing, gallinaceous 

 fowls have been distributed into endless varie- 

 ty; but without including the more marked 

 breeds, Dr. Bechstein distinguishes eight varie- 

 ties of the common barn-yard fowl; viz., the 

 fowl with a small comb; the slate-blue fowl; 

 the silver-colored fowl; the chamois-colored 

 fowl; the ermine-like fowl; the crowned fowl; 

 the widow, which has white tear-like spots on a 

 dark ground ; and the fire and stone-colored 

 fowls. It is difficult, however, in many cases 

 to identify the distinctions mentioned by for- 

 eign writers with the fowls bred in this coun- 

 try. 



If one wishes to be acquainted with the nature 



and the inclinations of fowls, one is obliged to 

 have recourse to the poultry-yard ; for we know 

 nothing of the habits of wild fowls ; but a long 

 bondage has operated such great alterations in 

 the nature of our fowls, that it is not easy to 

 come at their original character. For instance, 

 the tame fowl makes no nest; the wild one 

 surely does. The fecundity of the former is in 

 a measure unbounded ; except in the moulting 

 season, it lays almost incessantly ; analogy will 

 not allow us to doubt but that, in the wild tribe, 

 the laying must be considerably confined, and 

 that it takes place only at regular times. 



The cock is to the farmer a living clock, 

 where exactness, to be sure, is not quite so cor- 

 rect as some of our Connecticut-made wooden 

 clocks; but is sufficient, nevertheless, to point 

 out the divisions of the day and night, of labor 

 and rest. 



The attitudes of the cock are those of haught- 

 iness ; he carries his head high ; his look is bold 

 and quick ; his gait is grave ; all his motions be- 

 speak a noble assurance ; he seems to reign orer 



