January 20, 1SG3. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



59 



eludes the names of Messrs. Lucy, Esquilant, Percivall, Archer, 

 and others, cannot fail in these varieties. A more beautiful 

 pen of AVhite Fantails were never seen than those sent by the 

 President, Mr. Harrison Weir, and his Turbits were equal in 

 merit. Mr. Wicking's pens of Swallows and Priests were almost 

 dazzling from their purity of colour. The Barbs of Mr. Eden 

 were superb. Amongst them we noticed more particularly two 

 Yellow cocks and one Black that for breadtli of skull, shortness 

 of beak, and size of eye we have rarely if ever seen surpassed. 

 Jacobins were not in strong force as to numbers, though the 

 quality of those exhibited was good. Among the more miscel- 

 laneous birds we may notice a singular single specimen exhibited 

 by Mr. Archer. This bird, which came from Belgium, conjoins 

 the colour of an Archangel with the head of an Owl or Barb, its 

 most striking peculiarity being the extraordinary length of the 

 tail and flight feathers, the latter crossed beyond the tail giving 

 the animal the appearance of a gigantic Swift (Cypselus), or 

 Longwinged Hawk. Mr. Esquilant exhibited a pair of very good 

 Blue Dragons, and Mr. Tegetmeier a pen of Belgian Homeing 

 birds— the Smerles of the continent, but which are usually 

 termed Antwerps in England. This pen included some young 

 birds bred from those of M. Simonis, that won the sweepstakes 

 in the long flight from Marseilles to Liege, nearly six hundred 

 miles ; from M. Fivmel; M. Lejeune, the editor of "Le Pigeon," 

 s Belgian journal devoted to the flying fancy ; M. Rutk, and 

 others. 



Taken as a whole it was regarded as the. best Show that has 

 ever been held by the members of this Society, and as more than 

 sustaining its ancient prestige. 



The increase of the number of the members and the zeal with 

 which they briuj from great distances large numbers of birds to 

 this annual reunion, proves the inherent vitality of the Society, 

 which goes on steadily and surely progressing year after year ; 

 ■every succeeding Exhibition showing more birds, more pens, 

 more members, and more visitors. 



HYBRID GAME AND POULTRY. 



From: the ready answers I have seen about crossing Pheasants, 

 I am induced to meniiou two crosses I have lately observed — one 

 between the Grouse and Black Game, the other between the 

 Guinea Fowl and the common hen. Both were so plain a3 to 

 be indisputable, having characteristics of both birds. I cannot 

 avoid remarking on the pleasure that may be derived by the 

 interchange of knowledge and remark in natural history. — H. R. 



COMMON PHEASANT CROSSING WITH THE 

 SILYER. 

 ScnrE correspondents of your Journal expressing a doubt that 

 crosses between the common and Silver Pheasant have never 

 occurred, I beg to say that cases of their having done so are 

 common enough ; but excepting for the novelty of now and 

 then shooting a sort of a piebald one, there is nothing to admire 

 in the breed so brought about. On the contrary, I have heard 

 gamekeepers affirm that the cross spoiled the breed, the offspring 

 being tender and sometimes mistaken for domestic fowls, and 

 deficient ot that bold bearing which characterises the Pheasant 

 cock of the wild breed. The half-bred differ considerably in 

 appearance, and some may be regarded pretty, hut generally they 

 present that mongrel sort of character which is only endurable 

 to those who have never studied the beauties of distinct breeds. 

 — J. R. 



BROWN, WHITE, AND PIED CROSSED 

 PHEASANTS. 



TwxSTY years ago I had more time to spare than now, and 

 took great deiight in having Game birds in every variety as tame 

 as could he. Breeding freely, I found no difficulty in rearing 

 hybrids — that is, crosses between White and Brown Pheasants, 

 Grouse cock and Bantam hen, Partridges and Bantams. I often 

 heard of, but never saw, a cross between a Pheasant and common 

 hen, having frequently tried and, of course, failed. Common 

 sense and reason prove it impossible, far the Pheasant takes four 

 weeks to hatch, the common fowl three weeks ; and although 

 reading your invaluable Journal for many years, I never saw this 

 remark at any time. 



The Pheasants must be pinioned and really tame — that is, feed 

 from the hand and allow themselves to be handled : a run in a 

 garden indispensable. They should be a White cock and Brown 

 hen, or Brown cock and White hen ; they must be together the 

 whole season, or hatched together ; and the hens must be of one 

 kind. The birds produced are beautifully marked, partaking of 

 both kinds. 



I have had Snipe, Woodcock, and Plover living in my garden 

 for a length of time, until cats and other vermin destroyed 

 them. The plan I adopted to procure Game when a boy was to 

 watch the hen, find her nest, change the eggs by putting 

 Bantams' eggs instead, and the chicks, when hatched, would be 

 as wild as their foster-mother. The wild eggs, Pheasant or 

 Partridge, were brought near home to a secure place in a hedge, 

 where a Bantam would take charge and bring them home when 

 a week or fortnight old j then they are easily domesticated. — 

 W. W., Dublin. 



CROSS-BRED PHEASANTS. 



I A3! very glad to see the interest evinced in your last Number 

 about the cross between the common and Silver Pheasant. It 

 is extremely rare, but has been met with. I have never seen 

 one. I have seen fourteen or fifteen between the common and 

 the Golden. The late Lords Beauchamp and Hastings bred 

 them. I am disposed to believe " S." is mistaken. The Pied 

 Pheasant is bred between a common and a White bird. I have 

 bred many, and have one now in my possession. The common, 

 White, Pied, Chinese Versicolor, and Bohemian may all be in- 

 termixed, and the produce remain a Pheasant ; but if either be 

 mixed with the Golden or the Silver, the produce is a hybrid. 

 The cross between the fowl and ordinary Pheasant is a hybrid. 

 I have had many. — Y. 



THE MOVEABLE HEN-HOUSE. 



It would be a great improvement if it were possible to fatten 

 to a convenient degree all fowls intended for the market before 

 delivering them over to their fate ; for, although the art of so 

 raising and feeding certain breeds hag been greatly advanced in 

 some countries, they are usually handed to the merchant in very 

 poor condition. They are often allowed to become too old ; and 

 except some chickens fed for special tables, nearly all pass 

 without preparation from the courtyard to the kitchen. 



The reason is that the farmer who breeds and raises them has 

 scarcely ever time to fatten them. There must be a great differ- 

 ence between quietly allowing poultry to go and come freely 

 about a farm, and occupying one's self with it as a special 

 branch of the establishment. 



I do not enter into such details as to decide, for example, what 

 sort of fowls ought to be chosen. Some breeds which lay well 

 do not produce such good chickens as others which are less 

 famous in the first respect. It is for the intelligent breeder who 

 understands his business to choose the sort of bird most suitable 

 for his purpose. 



In France, the towns of Le Mans and La Fleche, in the 

 western districts, are celebrated for the fattened poultry with 

 which they supply Paris. 



I do not now tell you of the many methods of fattening 

 adopted by professiona'l poultry-feeders, nor even among other 

 modes of a very ingenious machine, with which a man is able, 

 through the help of a wheel moved by his foot, to fill the stomach 

 of a fowl which he holds in one hand, while with the other he 

 ascertains the vacuity or fulness of its crop. 



These processes can only be employed by persons who devote 

 themselves not merely to the breeding of fowls, but solely to the 

 fattening of birds which they procure in poor condition from the 

 farmers. . . 



I wish to write of a system suitable to a Btnctly farming 

 establishment, and which serves the two purposes of raising 

 poultry economically, and of keeping down m the fields the 

 swarms of grubs which devour their produce. 



Birds of all kinds are the sworn enemies of the insect tribe. 

 It is then- special mission to restrain the natural multiplication 

 of these creatures within such limits that man shall not suffer 

 by their ravages. But, generally speaking, birds that destroy 

 insects are of no use to man in the way of sustenance. Thus, 

 then, if in place of leaving the insects to the crows and such 

 other birds, we could have them eaten by hens and other 



