FANCIERS' JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



359 



CoF^ESfO^lDEfJCE. 



THE STANDARD. 



Editor Fanciers' Journal : 



It appears to me that the old standard is satisfactory to 

 the majority of fanciers; but if there are to be any altera- 

 tions, I would suggest that they revise with open doors, being 

 previously prepared by candid and thorough discussion 

 through the leading poultry journals, and afterwards sub- 

 jected to the closest scrutiny and criticism, and then printed 

 in book form as nearly perfect as possible. If the price is 

 to be one dollar, let it be bound in cloth. 



The breeding of fancy poultry will soon deteriorate if 

 there is a necessity of a new standard every year. To illus- 

 trate, we will take the Houdans into consideration : fanciers 

 that have spent many years and been at great expense to 

 have this breed brought as near to perfection as possible, 

 will now have to discard their favorite breed for not having 

 the fifth toe. Truly yours, T. Smith. 



Stony Brook, N. Y. 



Mr. J. M. Wade : 



I have a splendid pair of Pouters. The hen has been 

 sitting on the nest daily since last January ; occasionally 

 the cock sits with her. They seem to be well mated, and I 

 am positive that they are male and female, but the latter 

 does not lay. Can you suggest the probable reason and 

 remedy? "Would they do better if flying? 



I will relate another case in my flock, in which two hen 

 pigeons, a Pouter and Tumbler, both sit on one nest, in 

 which they have laid two eggs each. They take turns sitting 

 during the day, while both sit at night, and are just as 

 friendly as if they were a hen and cock well mated. 



Yours truly, W. C. Hart. 



Clinton, May 17, 1874. 



[We should separate the Pouters at once, and if the ben 

 is valuable let her fly for awhile. Should there be any 

 danger of her flying away, we would mate her to a strong 

 common pigeon, or another Pouter cock, before letting her 

 out. If she does not breed with him, dispose of her at once. 



It is quite common for two hens to mate and lay four eggs. 

 They will sit more or less irregularly during the day, but 

 will always sit together during the night. — Ed.] 



DEATH OF JOHN THOMSON, JR. 



At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Bucks 

 County Poultry Association the following resolutions were 

 passed : 



Resolved, That the announcement of the death of our 

 fellow member and brother fancier, John Thomson, Jr., is 

 received with feelings of deep regret. 



Resolved, That he was an earnest, faithful worker in the 

 cause, ever honorable in all his transactions, and an agree- 

 able, genial companion. 



Resolved, That we tender to the surviving members of his 

 family our sympathy and regret in their deep affliction. 



Resolved, That the Corresponding Secretary be requested 

 to communicate the action of the Association for publica- 

 tion in the Fanciers' Journal. 



Thos. H. Walton, 



Doylestown, May 25, 1874. Cor. Secretary. 



Mr. J. M. Wade. 



Dear Sir : Wishing to make your Journal of use to your 

 subscribers in every possible way, I will undertake to answer 

 M. B. K.'s question. I hope in so doing I will not rob some 

 poor attorney of his lawful fees. 



It is unlawful to shoot, trap, or catch wild pigeons during 

 any time of the year, except the months of October, Novem- 

 ber, and December. 



If a wild pigeon has been so far tamed, that it will go and 

 return to its place of abode, you have no right to shoot it. 

 You have no right to shoot your neighbor's pigeons, of 

 either kind, although they be found trespassing on your lands 

 or premises. If they do you an injury, you have an action 

 against their owner. 



Trover lies for animals naturally wild and tamed, although 

 they may have strayed away, unless they have regained their 

 natural liberty. In a wild animal an owner has a qualified 

 property — contradistinguished from an absolute property — 

 which he has in tame animals ; thus, deers in a park ; hares 

 or rabbits in an inclosed warren ; doves in a dove-house ; 

 pigeons, pheasants, or partridges in a mew; hawks that are 

 fed and commanded by an owner ; fish in a private pond ; or 

 any animal which has been reclaimed from a wild state; but 

 when once they have gained their libert}', the owner has not, 

 nor is able to reduce them to his command or possession, he 

 then will have lost his right or possession to them. 



To break into a coop and steal — is larceny. 



Yours, Isaac Van Winkle. 



Greenville, 1ST. J 



Mr. J. M. Wade. 



Dear Sir: To any one sending you a club of 6 (with $12), 

 for the Journal, before July, I will send a sitting of eggs 

 from my Buff or Partridge Cochins, every egg warranted 

 to be from an imported prize bird. Imported by myself 

 this year. Very respectfully yours, 



POULTKYVILLE, N. Y. W. C. MONROE, M.D. 



J3®* A Merciful Friend. — An elephant belonging to 

 an English garrison in the Indies, was one day amusing 

 himself with his chain in an open part of the town, when a 

 man who bad committed a theft, and was pursued by a 

 great number of people, despairing of all other means of 

 safety, ran under the elephant. Apparently delighted with 

 the poor man's confidence, the creature instantly faced about 

 and met the crowd, erected his trunk, and threw his chain 

 in the air, as is the manner of these animals when engaged 

 with the enemy, and became so furious in defence of the 

 criminal, that, notwithstanding all the gentle arts made use 

 of by the surrounding multitude, neither they, or even his 

 mahout or driver — to whom he was fondly attached — and 

 who was sent for to manage him, could prevail with bim to 

 give up the malefactor. The animal's wonderful kindness 

 met with reward. After three hour's contest the governor 

 heard of this strange rebellion to the laws of the land, and 

 came to the scene of struggle. He was so much pleased 

 with the generous perseverence of the honest quadruped, 

 that he yielded to the elephant's interposition, and pardoned 

 the criminal. The poor man, in an ecstacy of gratitude, 

 testified his acknowledgement by kissing and embracing 

 the proboscis of his kind benefactor, who was apparently so 

 sensible of what had happened, that, laying aside all his 

 former violence, he became perfectly tame and gentle in an 

 instant, and suffered his keeper to conduct him away with- 

 out the least resistance. 



