19 



birds to contend witli, and knock them about. The penns should be two feet 

 square at the least, with fronts to them, and a pitching board, and a small place 

 to go in and ouj at, which should be made to fasten up as occasion requires. The 

 lighter the work is, consistent with the proper degree of strength, the better, and 

 the work should be let in, in order to give it a neat appearance. There are 

 people in the Fancy who are carpenters, and understand that sort of work better 

 than a man who is not a Fancier. The bars should not be more than two inches 

 asunder. I prefer a shelf midway between the flooring and the ceiling of the 

 penn, big enough to hold a nest pan, and a little over, for the birds to pitch upon 

 when they fly up to it ; by this means the young ones may always be prevented 

 getting into the new nest with the old ^nes, when they are gone to nest again, 

 and thus many a pair of eggs may he saved. When the old ones begin to leave 

 their young, which they will generally do in nine or ten days time, and frequently 

 sooner, remove the pan with the young ones from the shelf to the floor of the penn, 

 the old ones will not forsake them, but continue to feed them as before, and the hen 

 will sit on them at night as usual. A few days afterwards, when you perceive 

 they are very anxious to go to nest again, put them a fresh pan on the shelf, 

 which they will readily take to, and this plan may be pursued all through the 

 season, and save a vast deal of trouble and loss. Though I have said it is desirable 

 to have a warm aspect for the areas, I by no means wish it to be understood that 

 I think the loft should be kept warm ; on the contrary, it should have a free 

 current of air, and in winter, except in very coarse days, I think the birds cannot 

 be kept too cool, being convinced it braces them, and particularly the hens. It 

 is only at the laying time in the spring, that I recommend the loft being shut up, 

 to keep out the cold and searching winds, as the hens are at this time frequently 

 very ill. 



The loft and areas should be scraped every day, and k^pt thorough clean, the 

 birds will be much more healthy, and never get clogged with dirt, and the Fancier 

 will have greater pleasure in going into his loft ; besides all this, it will prevent 

 the possibility of fleas and other vermin infesting him. A little water should be 

 sprinkled on the floor in the hot summer months, provided the Fancier does 

 not gravel his loft. Some use this method of gravelling the floor, which I 

 disapprove, on account of the dust it makes, and the harbour it afibrds for vermin, 

 but the birds should always have access to gravel. 



Above all, take care that the loft is not infested with rats or mice, the former 

 of which will not only destroy the eggs, but the young ones also, and even the 

 old ones, if no young ones are to be had; but a good cat trained up in the loft, 

 and well disciplined, will remedy all this. I recommend a boar cat, but he should 

 be castrated, tliat he may not be hankering to get out after the females, or entice" 

 others to the loft. A she cat is objectionable on the same account as an uncut 

 boar cat is. These are more formidable enemies in their natural state than any 

 other, and the loft on that account should, if possible, be inaccessable to the 

 approach of cats. If this cannot be managed, they must be trapped, and all means 

 used to prevent their ravages, not omitting to make the bars of the areas proof 

 against their paws. 



OF PENNING THE BIRDS. 



The birds being paired, the next care must be to make them well acquainted 

 with their respective penns, and for this purpose they should be penned up for a 

 few days, or longer if necessary, in the penns designed for them, during which 

 time they will match strong, and become well acquainted with their habitations. 

 The Fancier should then begin by opening two of the penns, that are most remote 

 from each other, and the birds, finding no entrance to any other, will readily learn 

 to know the places they came out of. When these two pair are well acquainted 

 with their penns, they should be fastened up again, and two other pair let out, 

 remembering to let out such as are most distant from each other, by which meana 



