426 
FANCIERS’ JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 
WHITE MICE. 
White mice are very beautiful little creatures, and they 
are so tame and gentle that they are admirably calculated 
for domestic pets. They may, indeed, be suffered to run 
about a room, and if well fed, they seldom try to escape. 
They may be taught to come when called; but they come to 
the voice of their feeder, and not to any particular name, 
though they may appear to come to a name, they pay no 
attention to that name when it is repeated by a stranger. 
White mice are frequently kept in a revolving cage, like 
those sold for squirrels; and cages are also formed for them 
with separate rooms, one above another, and a staircase to 
the upper rooms, in which the food is generally placed. 
This contrivance is said to keep the mice in health, and they 
certainly appear very fond of going up and down the stairs. 
White mice are generally fed with bread soaked in milk, and 
afterwards squeezed tolerably dry; but they are also very 
fond of oats, beans, and peas, which do not disagree with 
them if taken in moderate quantities. Mrs. Loudon. 
WAR ON THE SPARROWS. 
It seems to be only a question of time when the slaughter 
of the sparrows shall be commenced. In this city they are 
now recognized as little more than unmitigated nuisances. 
Scarcely a niche or crevice in any of the buildings but is 
filled with their nests, and in the immediate neighborhood 
of these it is far from safe to walk if the matter of cleanliness 
is at all considered. Besides this the object for which they 
were brought into this country is not attained. It was sup- 
posed that they would clear the trees of worms, but they 
seem to clear away everything else but worms, and drive 
away the birds that would clear them off. Only a few days 
ago a gentleman living in the first ward saw a couple of 
American birds come into his yard and commence to build a 
nest. They were peaceful little fellows, and their singing, 
when they did sing, was sweet music compared with the noisy 
squabble and chatter of the sparrows. They had not been 
long in the yard before the sparrows found them out and 
attacked them. The mother bird fought bravely, but the 
sparrows came by the half dozen and actually killed her, 
and then took noisy possession of the place. Last year this 
same gentleman could get no fruit from his pear trees, and 
it was so unusual that he knew not what to make of it. 
He found out a day or two ago. His wife was watching at 
the window and saw the sparrows in the pear trees picking 
off the blossoms. She called her husband, and, while he 
was watching, he saw one sparrow alight near a bunch of 
half a dozen or more blossoms, and actually pull them all 
off in a bunch, and fly away with them. 
In speaking of these noisy and already troublesome birds, 
the same gentleman said that we used to have a number of 
blue birds and robins, and “ chippies,” birds that do pick 
the worms from the trees, and there is not now one to be 
found. In Germany, he said, the sparrows are such a nui- 
sance that there are laws for killing them. In certain sec- 
tions every boy, between specified years of age, is obliged to 
bring to the official of the borough in which he lives twelve 
sparrows, dead or alive, every week, and in other sections, 
where they are excessively numerous, the girls are obliged 
to do the same. The only way they can protect the grape 
vines in some sections of Germany is by covering them with 
netting to prevent the sparrows from tearing off the blossoms 
or ripening fruit. As for fruits they cannot raise any. Whole' 
fields of rye and wheat are destroyed in a short time by the 
sparrows. They pull it up when it is just sprouting, and 
carry it away. This last little practice of the sparrows has been 
exhibited in this city : A gentleman sowed a bed of lettuce. 
When it began to come up the sparrows got at it, and have 
pulled up nearly every sprout. It will be almost worthless. 
Between their filth, their war upon the other and prettier, 
and far daintier birds, and their destruction of fruit and 
young plants, it seems not improbable that when the spar- 
rows have increased to a few hundred thousand more in each 
city, and carry on their depredations accordingly, the work 
of ruthlessly slaughtering them will be a necessity, both for 
the sake of cleanliness and economy . — Elizabeth Journal. 
CoF^ESpOfjDEfJCE. 
Meadville, Pa., June 22, 1874. 
Mr. Editor. 
Can you or some of your many readers tell me what ails 
my Fantails? They lose the use of their wings. I had 
several troubled in this way, and have one now. Any in- 
formation that will effect a cure will be thankfully received 
by a Young Fancier. 
Editor Fanciers’ Journal. 
Dear Sir: In justice to J. Y. Bicknell, Westmore- 
land, N. Y., I will give the result of a sitting of eggs bought 
from him this season. Out of 13 Duckwing Game Eggs I 
got 10 very fine vigorous chicks, showing very good points. 
Considering the distance, season of year, and time they 
were on the road (3 days), 1 think this hard to beat. 
Very respectfully yours, 
C. H. Fry, York, Pa. 
Providence, June 22, 1874. 
Mr. J. Wade. 
Dear Sir: I must say that I admire the Fanciers’ 
Journal ; it gives me great pleasure to read both sides of the 
“American Standard War,” if carried on in a friendly and 
gentlemanly way. I like Mr. Burnham’s answer to Mr. 
Athole : it is rich. I think it would sound well if all wri- 
ters on this topic would be as careful what to write as he is. 
I think he is a gentlemen. Gustav Dillenberger, 
69 Clifford St., Providence, R. I. 
(For Fanciers’ Journal.) 
Mr. Editor. 
The subject of “ the tread ” seems to be quite a perplexing 
question. Mr. Pyle says that if the white substance, sup- 
posed to be the tread, is attached to both ends of the yolk, 
the egg will hatch. I hope you examined the eggs sent you, 
which were laid by a hen separated from the cock from the 
time she commenced sitting till after she had weaned her 
chicks and laid several eggs. I broke and examined three 
of her eggs, and the white substance was plainly to be seen 
attached to both ends of the yolk. I am still of the opinion 
that this subject is yet involved in mystery. Possibly it 
may be solved, however, and, if it can be shown that my 
opinion is incorrect I will gladly yield the point, and thank 
my instructor. Frequent examinations of eggs known to 
be unimpregnated prove to me, beyond a doubt, that the 
supposed tread is produced, in the formation of the egg, by 
the hen alone. J. Y. Bicknell. 
