WE A THERCOCKS. \ 3 1 



problem. Possibly it is necessary to grope back- 

 ward into prehistoric times ; although Riitimeyer 

 does not give the common fowl as one of the 

 birds found in the dtbris beneath the ancient 

 lake-dwellings of Switzerland. It may be added, 

 too, that chickens are not weather prophets, 

 as are geese and peacocks ; notwithstanding 

 they figure somewhat conspicuously in all ani- 

 mal weather-lore, and have done so since 250 

 B. C., if not earlier. Aratus, in his Diosemeia, 

 or Prognostics, for instance, claims that a cock, 

 when unusually restless or noisy, foretells a com- 

 ing storm, and this nonsense is believed to-day 

 by a fair proportion of our rural population. Of 

 course, modifications of this are well-nigh innu- 

 merable, and one of them, when a small boy, I 

 found useful. If a cock came to the open 

 kitchen door, company was coming such was 

 the firm conviction of a trio of aunts who ruled 

 the household. Now, company-coming meant 

 pie or pudding, and to a small boy this means a 

 great deal. Acting upon it, the crowing of a 

 cock was faithfully practiced in the woods, and 

 then, while my brother singled out a rooster and 

 drove it to the door, I crowed lustily from be- 

 hind the lilac-bushes ; and the ruse brought pie 

 and pudding more than once, but not too often 

 to weaken these credulous women's faith. 



I have mentioned a dry storm with the wind 



