30 GALLINIDJE. 



Dorking fowls eat more than others, but as they are considerably larger, 

 it is reasonable to believe that they do. They are very quiet and not 

 given to roaming, which will much curtail the quantity of food neces- 

 sary to generate animal heat and induce regular laying. 



July 18, 1849. — I saw at Mertoun, a hen with 28 young guinea- 

 fowl following her, consisting of three broods brought out at different 

 times, the oldest by herself, and being about four times the size of the 

 youngest. The other broods were incubated under Malay hens, each 

 of which killed two or three chicks by unconsciously trampling them 

 to death with her large feet. These broods were consequently given 

 in charge to the other hen — a large bird of the ordinary kind by 

 whom they were at once gladly received, and treated with the same 

 parental care as those brought out by herself. With good manage- 

 ment she is able to gather the whole 28 under her wings. 



The love of the hen for maternity is, as well known, sometimes 

 carried to an extraordinary — it might almost be said unnatural — 

 extent. At the residence of a clergyman of my acquaintance, near 

 Kirkcubbin, county of Down, in May 1849, a hen had her nest and 

 eggs in the corner of an outhouse, close to where a cat had brought 

 forth three kittens. The eggs being taken away, the hen, though not hav- 

 ing commenced incubation, left her own nest on the evening of their 

 removal, and took charge of the kittens. During the few following 

 days she laid some eggs among her adopted young. These eggs were 

 likewise removed ; but she continued, nevertheless, to cover the kittens 

 during the night, and to lead them about by day, giving utterance to 

 the usual clucking note, ruffling her plumage, and in every way acting 

 towards them as if they were her own progeny. The kittens, too, 

 treated her as a parent, crouching under her for warmth, and one or 

 more of them occasionally climbing on her back as chickens would do. 

 The parent cat, good humouredly from the first, resigned her charge to 

 the feathered nurse-tender, and lived on the most friendly terms with 

 her during the period — about a month — in which she assisted her in 

 the discharge of her maternal duties. 



The domestic fowl, and indeed all the species of Gallus, are natives 

 of the more southern and eastern parts of Asia, or the neighbouring 

 islands, where they are still found in a wild state. 



