BOOK VIII. II. i2-in. I 



them, and they rarely bring up their own oifspring. 

 Those, therefore, whose hearts are set on possessing 

 these breeds on account of their fine appearance, 

 when they have set aside the eggs of the well-bred 

 hens, put them under ordinary hens, in order that 

 the chickens when they are hatched may be brought 

 up by the latter. Tanagran fowls, which are usually 13 

 equal in size to the Rhodian and Median, do not 

 differ greatly from our native fowls in disposition, and 

 the same is true of the Chalcidian. But of all these 

 breeds the cross-bred chickens are the best, which 

 our own hens have produced after conceiving them 

 by foreign male birds ; for they show the fine appear- 

 ence of their fathers and their own native salacious- 

 ness and productivity. I do not highly commend 14 

 bantam-hens either for their fecundity or for any other 

 return which they give — unless one takes a pleasure 

 in their low stature— just as indeed I do not commend 

 the bantam-cock either, which is given to fighting 

 and whose lust makes him quarrelsome. For it 

 generally attacks the other cock-birds and does not 

 allow them to cover the hens, though it cannot itself 

 suffice for a large number of hens. Its petulance, 15 

 therefore, must be checked by means of a piece of 

 leather from an old flask, of which, after it has been 

 formed into a round shape, the middle part is cut 

 away and the cock's foot is inserted through this 

 cut-out part, and by this kind of shackle its fierce 

 disposition is restrained. But, as I proposed, I will 

 now give directions for the care of poultry in general. 



III. Hen-houses should be placed in the part of the now to ^ ^ 

 farm which faces the rising sun in winter and should house. 

 adjoin the oven or the kitchen, so that the smoke, 

 which is particularly beneficial to this kind of animal, 



33* 



