410 
FANCIERS’ JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 
keep comfortably in such a room, allowing them to fly once 
or twice a day, say in the morning and evening, and whether 
they will injure the roof, which is made of tin, as I have 
heard persons say that pigeons are very destructive to a tin 
roof? 
Before I saw the tobacco remedy in your valuable journal 
I used to invariably lose one squab in each nest by lice. I 
am very much pleased with the remedy, as I did not know 
before how to get rid of the vermin, which I can now do 
most effectually. Respectfully yours, M. B. K. 
Tilsonburg, Oxford County, Ontaria, June 13, 1874. 
Jos. M. Wade, Editor Fanciers’ Journal. 
Dear Sir : The specimen copy of Fanciers’ Journal was 
duly received. I am well pleased with the way it is gotten 
up, and hope for it success. Feeling a deep interest in the 
spreading of such a wide-awake journal through our Do- 
minion, and to show my appreciation of the same, to the first 
person sending you a club of six subscribers, accompanied 
with $12, I will ship by the 1st of September a fine pair of 
chicks from my flrst-prize Partridge Cochins, or English 
Black- Breasted Red Game, or a tine pair of Wild Geese. 
All bred to English Standard. Respectfully, 
Stephen Tillson, 
Tilsonburg, Ontario, Canada. 
A TRIFLING ERROR. 
Mr. Editor : 
I noticed in a poultry magazine, lately, by a Mr. Plaisted, 
in a long story he tells about the origin of Brahma-Pootra 
Fowls, the statement that “ G. P. Burnham, Esq., of Mel- 
rose, Mass., claims that he had the first in New England;” 
that “a ship came to New York at just the right time for 
him to secure a new importation of these Gray Shanghais,” 
as he calls them, “ to add to his already choice stock that were 
never seen until after the exhibition of 1851,” in Boston 1 
This writer claims that he attempts nothing only to state 
facts , just as they existed. But, as he was formerly a part- 
ner in the chicken-trade with Dr. John C. Bennett, of fa- 
mous “ Burrampooter ” notoriety, it is a little strange that he 
does’nt (?) know that said Dr. Bennett published his well- 
known “ Poultry Book ” in 1850, with Appendix (2d edition) 
in 1851, in which Mr. Burnham’s splendid first Gray Shang- 
hais (there called Chittagongs by the Doctor) are both fully 
described and illustrated, as “ most remarkable for size and 
beauty.” And, in Appendix, the Doctor adds: “ We have 
just received from Dr. Kerr, Philadelphia (the same party 
Burnham got his first ones from), some of these imperial 
birds,” and Dr. K. writes: “They are quite equal to Mr. 
Burnham’s.” .... “This is enough,” adds Dr. Bennett, 
“ to have said more would have been a work of super- 
erogation.” 
This in 1850, ’51, by Dr. Bennett himself, this man Plais- 
ted’s business partner, who writes in the same article I quote 
from, that he (Plaisted) got a lot of somebody else’s gray 
stock in 1851, which were the simon-pura; but in reference 
to which fowls not a syllable is printed in Dr. Bennett’s 
Poultry Book, issued that year, and which stock nobody then 
knew anything about, of course. 
I think it must he the other stock that Mr. Plaisted says 
“ were never seen till after the 1851 exhibition.” For how 
could Burnham’s fine gray fowls have been thus pictured, and 
so elaborately described in Dr. Bennett’s work in 1850and ’51, 
unless they had been seen previously? — as they had been, 
and admired by thousands, “the wonder of all poultry-fan- 
ciers who behold them,” as Dr. Bennett puts it (see page 27 
of his book). Or, if the Plaisted fowls were then known, why 
did’nt Bennett know and say something about them in his 
very comprehensive Poultry Book issued at that time? 
Kensington, June 8, 1874. QUESTION. 
Spall Pet D E rwFU- 
All communications and contributions intended for this depart- 
ment should be addressed to HOWARD I. IRELAND, 318 Stevens Street, 
Camden, N. J., or care of Joseph M. Wade, 39 North Ninth St., Philada. 
(For Fanciers’ Journal.) 
PARROTS. 
Parrots were probably the first birds ever confined in 
cages for the purpose of affording amusement for man. 
They were very popular among the ancient Greeks and Ro- 
mans, and are frequently mentioned in the writings of Plu- 
tarch, Ovid, and other ancient writers. In those days, 
among the common people, the Parrot was regarded as an 
object of veneration, and on this account was held in high 
esteem. At the present time they retain a high degree of 
popularity, and are prized more then any other cage bird, 
with the exception of the Canary. 
Parrots inhabit the warm parts of the earth; the nearer 
we approach the equator the more brilliant becomes their 
plumage. They belong to the order Scansores (Climbing 
Birds), from the Latin scando to climb. Their feet are 
well adapted to climbing purposes ; the toes being placed 
two in front and two behind, are armed with strong, sharp 
claws, enabling them to grasp a branch with an exceedingly 
firm hold. Their beaks are hooked, and also aid them greatly 
in climbing, and they always use these when going from 
branch to branch, and in climbing around among the bars 
of their cages. Unlike most other birds the upper mandi- 
ble is movable, being fastened to the skull by a strong, 
elastic piece of cartilage, and joined to it by a hinge-joint. 
As a general thing the male Parrot is clothed in the most 
brilliant plumage worn by any tropical bird, while the fe- 
male is dressed in a more sober garb. Like the young of 
other birds, Parrots do not assume their brilliant colors until 
after the third or fourth moulting. They seldom fly great 
distances, being heavy of flight, but often remain during 
their whole lives in the same forest. 
For breeding purposes they select a hole in a rotten tree, 
enlarging it with their bills if too small. A few twigs or a 
little moss supplies them with the materials for a nest, and 
oftentimes the eggs are deposited on the bare wood. Two 
are the usual number of eggs laid by the Parrot; they breed 
twice each year, the period of incubation being from twenty 
to twenty-five days, according to the variety. At the age 
of a year Parrots are full-grown, and then, assuming the 
gay attire of their parents, fly away and commence mating. 
They often live to he very old, some reaching the great age 
of eighty years, but such cases are not common, thirty being 
considered the average number of years a Parrot will live 
in captivity. 
In their native woods they live upon nuts and ripe fruit. 
The former they open by means of their powerful beaks. 
Some are very fond of bathing, and when a cup of water is 
placed in their cage will plunge in it, uttering loud cries of 
delight, and mailing the water fly in every direction. 
There are many varieties of the Parrot tribe, but we shall 
consider them in future numbers of the Journal under the 
head of : 
1. Macaws. 3. Parrots. 5. Parakeets. 
2. Cockatoos. 4. Lories. 6. Love Birds. 
(To be continued.) 
