ORDER GALLING. 189 



his enemy, overwhelmed him with blows of his wings, or 

 gored him with his spurs. 



Some cocks are of an excessively peevish and quarrelsome 

 disposition ; they beat and annoy the hens, and, not satisfied 

 with their own lot, are continually disturbing the establish- 

 ments of their neighbours. The mode of reducing these 

 refractory subjects to quietness is simple ; the foot is passed 

 into a piece of leather, cut round to receive it ; they then 

 become as quiet as men who have got irons on their hands, 

 feet, and neck. 



The cock is fond of cleanliness ; he is careful of his dress, 

 and is often seen engaged in cleansing, combing, and polish- 

 ing his feathers with his bill. If like the nightingale, or 

 the warbler, whose melody is created by love, he has no 

 ambition to be distinguished by the excellence of his music, 

 it is certain that he is very fond of exhibiting the strength, 

 the sonorousness, and the compass of his voice. After crow- 

 ing, he listens to hear if he is answered, and if another cock 

 should reply, he recommences immediately, and appears to 

 defy him to raise his voice higher than his own. This emu- 

 lous cry, repeated by all the cocks of a village, on an 

 obscure night, has often struck the ear of the wandering 

 traveller, and proved the happy means of directing his steps 

 aright. 



It is pretty generally imagined, that the cock is not de- 

 signed by nature to share in the solicitudes of incubation 

 and the education of the young ; but on examining matters a 

 little more closely, we are forced to relinquish this opinion. 

 In fact, if the cock in a wild state did not attach himself to 

 a single female, how could she cover, and at the same time 

 be obliged to proceed in search of food .'' The impossibility of 

 the hen doing these two things without the assistance of the 

 cock, proves that, in the state of which we are speaking, she 

 receives that assistance. How, then, if this be the case, has 



