148 



THE AMERICAN POULTERER'S COMPANION. 



eggs of their father's Black-breasted red Bantams 

 (which were kept to raise game), without any 

 but childish motives, placed them carefully in 

 the partridge's nest. I find afterward these chil- 

 dren frequently went to see the result, but did 

 not again actually interfere with the poor birds' 

 privacy. She continued laying until twelve of 

 her own eggs were also deposited, and then sit- 

 ting, hatched all her own, and two of the three 

 Bantams' eggs ; her numerous and strangely in- 

 congruous offspring were all reared, and in the 

 autumn it was I first saw them, living together 

 as comfortably as possible. 



" Great care was taken by the owner that no- 

 thing should endanger the life of any of this 

 covey ; so that spring came on, and found the 

 birds paying a tolerable revenue to the game- 

 keeper, whose plan it was to gain ' a perquisite 

 from every comer,' by running an old pointer, 

 and when discovered, flushing the birds. On 

 these occasions the pair of Bantams (for they 

 were a cock and hen) would always fly equally 

 with the partridges, both as to rapidity and dis- 

 tance, sometimes traversing six or seven fields 

 at a single flight ; and if their companions hap- 

 pened to drop short and run to cover, the Ban- 

 tams would, with depressed head and tail, still 

 manage to make a ' dead heat' of it ; in fact, were 

 as wild and retiring as possible quite as much 

 so as their companions ! 



" But it has been said truly, ' Instinct is never 

 quite suppressed,' for invariably, when disturbed, 

 the little fellow, after gaining supposed security, 

 indulged in two or three hearty flaps of the 

 wings, and as many shrill Growings a practice 

 he would repeat as frequently as he was sub- 

 jected to these almost endless rehearsals, a feat 

 that generally produced a hearty laugh from 

 spectators. At early dawn this bird might oc- 

 casionally be seen traversing the meadows, and 

 be espied calling haphazard either his fellow 

 or the birds to partake of the proffered food, 

 which was generally scrambled for from his bill. 

 He seemed, too, as fond of some of this covey 

 as of his own mate, a matter which greatly in- 

 creased the vexation of its owner when his loss 

 was discovered. Not hearing the bird crow as 

 usual, the oft-adopted plan was tried to discover 

 his whereabouts, but proved futile ; and after a 



lengthy and determined search, in which both 

 owner and all the household were engaged, n 

 number of partridges' feathers lying loosel; 

 about, in one of the fields, among which a 

 'sickle-feather' from the Bantam was also dis- 

 covered, told too plainly that the treacherous 

 meshes of some midnight poacher had caused 

 his sudden disappearance." 



THE BLACK BANTAM. 



The Black African Bantam, which is faith- 

 fully delineated on the opposite page, is a most 

 beautiful example of a great soul in a little 

 body. He is the most pugnacious of his tribe. 

 He will drive to a respectful distance great dung- 

 hill cocks five times his weight. He is in ap- 

 pearance a pleasing little fellow, though an im - 

 pudent, consequential little atom ! Oh, the littk- 

 impudent scamp ! That such a contemptible min - 

 ikin as that should have the assurance to strut 

 and parade his insignificant person in the pres- 

 ence of great hens, the members of families of 

 weight and substance, before the Misses, and 

 still more, the Mistresses Malay, Cochin, and 

 Dorking, to presume to show such marked at- 

 tention, I declare ! to Well, there is no 



knowing to what length impudence will go, so 

 long as Bantams survive extermination. He is 

 more jealous, irascible, and domineering, in pro- 

 portion to his size, than the thorough-bred Game- 

 cock. 



" Its combativeness," says Mr. Dixon, " is man~ 

 ifest at a very early period. Other chickens 

 will fight in sport by the time they are half 

 grown, but these set to work in good earnest. 

 One summer we bought a small brood, as soon 

 as they could be safely removed from their 

 mother ; there were two cockerels among them. 

 They were little things, beautifully shaped, bur 

 ridiculously diminutive ; fairy chickens some of 

 our friends called them. They had not been 

 with us long before the liberal supply of bark- 

 began to excite them ; and the two little im] - 

 spent the greater part of their time in fighting, 

 which only made us laugh, judging serious in- 

 jury impossible. But shortly observing one un- 

 usually tired (for it had always been a sort of 

 draw game between them), and the other walk- 

 ing about in an odd uncertain manner, though 



