120 



JOrTBNAL OF HOBTICTTLTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ AngHst 9, 1864. 



moult in the autumn, and by the following spring -was 

 arrayed entirely in the plumage of a drake. In the first- 

 named year she laid, but when habited in drake's costume 

 ceased doing' so. She was killed for the table, but no eggs 

 were discovered in the ovary. 



This occurred in the province of Luxemburg, where I was 

 then living. No one there had ever seen such a case, although 

 several peasants had had hens which assumed the cock's 

 plumage, and one had returned to the plumage of a hen the 

 next year. — A. S. 



CANKEE IN PIGEONS. 



In reply to Mr. Burton's inquiry, I am afraid his birds 

 have become unhealthy from some canse which shows itself 

 in the breaking-out about the mouth of the cankerous disease 

 to which Pigeons are often liable. It may arise from various 

 causes — too hot or stimulating a diet, as too much hemp-seed, 

 or want of natural condiments ; and it has been attributed 

 to dirty water, drinking from tin vessels, drinking the water 

 in which they have bathed, or from mice wetting among 

 the corn. 



I have found much good arise from removing the pus and 

 thoroughly rubbing the place with caustic. I have also 

 cured a case by rubbing salt into the part when the matter 

 was removed. By all means let the Pigeons have a little 

 salt. I do not think wheat alone good feeding for Pigeons ; 

 lentils, small beans, and buckwheat are a good change. I 

 should be pleased to hear if the caustic or salt proves a cure. 

 In using the caustic care must be taken to touch every part 

 of the sore, or the matter will form again. — Bernard P. 

 Bee nt. 



SETTLING- PIGEONS IN. A NEW HOME, 



AND LETTING THElt OUT TOE THE FIEST TIME. 



The letter of your correspondent, " J. I. D.," in No. 175, 

 suggests the desirability of a few passing remarks on settling 

 or accustoming Pigeons to a new abode, and the care re- 

 quisite in letting them out for the first time ; for, as your 

 correspondent remarks, he has " a crotchet that birds 

 breed better if allowed to fly out." In this he is quite 

 correct ; and I may add that the Pigeons will be very much 

 the healthier if they have their liberty, and will be enabled 

 to pick up many little condiments, which all the care of the 

 fancier is but indifferently able to supply. It is, therefore, 

 always advisable to give the Pigeons their liberty when 

 practicable, which in the great majority of cases it will be 

 found to be, most Pigeons being able to fly sufficiently to 

 keep out of danger ; and although one or two may be lost 

 from some cause or other owing to their being at large, 

 yet I am convinced that many more die, or are lost, from 

 being kept confined. I would not, however, advise any one 

 suddenly to rush to the opposite extreme, and turn out all 

 his Pigeons without some previous care and discrimination, 

 because a Pigeon that has grown to maturity in confine- 

 ment and suddenly finds itself at large, becomes bewildered, 

 and gets into difficulties that a young bird would escape, 

 owing to its natural instinct ; whereas the older bird, being 

 cramped in its intellect, as it were, is taken off its guard. 



It may be as well to inquire what this instinct is. I 

 think it will be admitted that many animals have the power 

 to return home from distant places without any previous 

 knowledge of the road. Pew persons but can call to mind 

 some account of cats, dogs, horses, and other animals re- 

 turning home, when it seemed impossible for them to know 

 anything of the road. I believe it is a faculty by which 

 they have an intuitive perception of the right direction, and 

 follow it by a natural impulse. This is, I consider, instinct, 

 and not at all controlled by reason. 



Among the wild Doves or Pigeons there is a difference in 

 this instinct. Some are erratic or wandering in their ways. 

 These are mostly arboreal in their habits, and, except for the 

 purpose of nesting, have no settled home. Such Pigeons may 

 be tamed, but cannot be domesticated, because if let out 

 they stray away, and have no instinct to attach them 

 to any spot. Such is the case with our largest Wood Pigeon, 

 the King Dove; whereas the Bock Pigeon has a settled 

 abode to which it always endeavours to return. If it strays 



away in search of food, as soon as its hunger is satisfied it 

 returns home by mere instinct as a natural act, without 

 thought or concern. Thus the Eock Pigeon, though such a 

 shy, wild bird, can be domesticated. See how the bee 

 wanders in search of honey, winding and twisting, search- 

 ing and hunting, from flower to flower, and when filled, 

 returning direct to the hive. Cats have been carried away to 

 strange places in bags or covered baskets, and returned 

 home many miles when let out. Many are the stories of 

 dogs, horses, and bullocks returning home by some unex- 

 plained faculty. Domestic Pigeons are highly endowed with 

 this power, and have always a desire to return home when at 

 a distance from it. So strong is this propensity that man has 

 been led to take advantage of it, and selecting strong or 

 quick-flying breeds, has trained them to come home from 

 very long distances, and thus to be the bearers of dispatches 

 or news. 



Having brieflyconsidered this inherent faculty or instinct 

 of Pigeons, there can be little wonder if an amateur buys 

 a pair of Pigeons and lets them out without due precaution, 

 that the birds will stray away, and probably be lost. A few 

 words on the means to be adopted to lessen this impulse, 

 and, if possible, to create a counter-attraction, is the object 

 of my present letter. 



Much difference will be found in the strength of this 

 instinct in different individuals, as also in their powers of 

 flight and consequent capability of following this impulse. 

 A Pigeon that has been brought up in confinement is much 

 in the state of a young bird that has for the first time left 

 the nest, but, if anything, more stupid, and may require 

 care not to frighten it from the roof], or immediate neigh- 

 bourhood, until it has been in and out two or three times. 

 A Pigeon that has previously been accustomed to have its 

 liberty, and is for the first time let out at a new place, feels 

 no bewilderment, but rather rejoices at its liberty, and sets 

 off at once for its old home, its excursion being only cur- 

 tailed by its powers of flight. It will depend very much on 

 the counter-attraction set up in the new abode whether the 

 Pigeon returns to it. It will at once be seen how. very 

 various is the amount of restraint required to attach a 

 Pigeon to a new home. 



My advice to any one when a new pair, or even a single 

 bird, is purchased, is to keep them confined for at least three 

 days in their new house, a fortnight would be safer; but, 

 above all things, to see that the new comers have a private 

 apartment — that is, a nest-place or two of their own, and that 

 they have taken possession and have driven all others from 

 it. This becomes their castle or retreat, and to it they 

 return : if they go out and cannot find their old residence, 

 they will try and return to this new possession. When a 

 Pigeon, or a pair of new Pigeons have been out, and sought 

 in vain for then old house, then, having found their way 

 back to the nest place of their new home, there is but little 

 fear of their leaving afterwards, unless at any time another 

 Pigeon has beaten them from their retreat, when they may 

 then roam in search of a new nest-place. 



Ordinary tame Pigeons may be let out three days after 

 they have taken possession. Better flying kinds should be 

 kept in a fortnight. Such as have been accustomed to find 

 their way home from the fields, or have been trained far 

 homing, must be kept in for a longer time if their old home 

 is not too far for them to reach easily, in which case they 

 will have to be brought back two or three times ere they 

 will stop. Sewing a few of the long wing-feathers together 

 to prevent their flying too much at first, or, as some recom- 

 mend, soaping their wings — an experiment I have never 

 tried — may serve to keep them at home for a few days ; but 

 if once they return but little trouble will be experienced 

 afterwards. — B. P. Brent. 



EABBIT-HUTCHES. 



It may be of some interest to your readers who are rabbit- 

 fanciers if I state my experience in keeping rabbits in hutches 

 with sparred floors. I find they keep the rabbits cleaner 

 and sweeter, and they thrive much better than when on 

 close boarded floors. There is no effluvia from the hutches, 

 and twice as many can be kept in the same space as when 

 on close boarded floors. My hutches with open boards are 



