THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE FOWL 247 
intelligence. A child will readily eat a poisonous wild berry if it 
resemble an edible berry, but the fowl] will make no errors of that 
kind. Perhaps there is no animal extant whose food is so varied 
as is that of a fowl, and yet while it will accept all that it needs 
for its growth and nourishment, it will reject all that would be 
harmful. A fowl will eat almost any kind of seed or grain that is 
not too large, but there are, of course, some sorts that it much 
prefers to others. It will eat any sort of meat or fish ; it will eat 
all sorts of fruits and vegetables; it will eat flints, chalk, ash, 
broken bricks, stones, shell and soil. The fowl is not a dainty 
animal. It will catch and eat mice, frogs, slugs, snails, worms and 
insects of every description. It does not, it is true, always know 
precisely what is best for it, and will eat raw potatoes if it cannot 
find grain or other more suitable food. But its instincts are right. 
It prefers flies to potatoes as a rule, but it will reject worms when 
it has had a plentiful supply of albuminoid foods. As far as 
possible it goes for the “ balanced ration.” If it is kept indoors 
for a few days without green stuff it will rush at the grass or 
cabbages as soon as it gets near them. 
A CREATURE OF INSTINCT 
From the point of view of knowing what is good for it, the fowl 
is ahead of the human being. One may give a bird food that is 
unsuitable for eggs and it will eat it, but then the fowl is not 
thinking about eggs when it is feeding. At the same time, if, you 
place before the bird during the laying season food that contains 
protein and food that contains none, you will find the former 
eaten first. Here again instinct is not at fault. The hen may not 
be endowed with mighty brain power, but in all that pertains to 
its well-being it has little to learn from its keeper. 
In the matter of roosting its instincts are not so immaculate. 
Some fowls have to be taught to roost. If the young be left with 
the mother hen long enough there is no need to teach them, but 
when they are left entirely to themselves, some prefer to sleep on 
the floor to sleeping on the perches. In this case there is nothing 
