AM MS. Ill 



birds, th|tt UBually had sole possession of the yard, he produced a most beauti- 

 ful Game hen aud ohiclcens, the latter not more than three or four days old, the 

 hen being armed with a pair of steel spurs, somewhat shorter than those used 

 in the cock-pit, but well suited for the purpose intended ; and, being naturally 

 a spurred hen, they were easily and firmly attached. The lot being placed at 

 freedom in the yard, the hen, from all around being strange, was necessarily 

 restless, aud the chickens equally noisy. Grimalkin, with stealthy pace, was 

 soon seen crouching along a wall about nine feet high; the hen unfortunately 

 at this moment had flown into the body of a covered cart, that prevented an; 

 possibility of her seeing the threatened danger. A spring from the wall placed 

 puss in the possession of the nearest chicken, and all the spectators thought 

 certainly one youngster was irretrievably forfeited to the experiment; but the 

 idea was erroneous, with a shriek the hen fiew headlong at the enemy of her 

 brood. Puss seemed but little concerned at her fury, as the impunity with 

 which she had faced other hens seemed rather to inspire her with confidence, 

 all hut amounting to imperturbability. 



" Perceiving the coming attack, the cat loosed the chicken from her mouth, 

 but instantaneously placed one foot upon it ; and with hair erect looked de- 

 fiantly ; while a few deeply-drawn breathings at the window told how anxiously 

 the lookers-on speculated as to the result. The Cochins, poor, heavy, domesti- 

 cated dames, had always proved slow in their motions, and their eflForts were 

 easily avoided. Not so now; a blow the eye could scarcely follow, and a scream 

 most dissimilar to the noise from anything feline, gave evidence that the con- 

 test was not so very unequal aS it appeared to be. Two or three other blows, in 

 the most rapid succession possible, made retreat evidently the only way that 

 remained to the cat of making the best of an unlucky speculation ; still, with 

 an obduracy most remarkable, she once more seized the chicken with her 

 mouth and sprang with it upon the wall. Nevertheless, bravery carried the 

 day— the hen proved plose to her heels, and another double rap brought both 

 antagonists headlong back to the ground. The cat then loosed the chicken, 

 bolted to another less expqged outlet, and the hen quickly commenced her 

 muster-roll, which embraced the whole of her progeny, and none were injured, 

 the hen herself escaping literally without a scratch ; although her artificial helps 

 were besmeared with gore. Some half year afterwards, I heard on inquiry that 

 a longing, lingering look was still frequently indulged in by the aggressor, but 

 always from afar — the cure was a certain one. " 



The rules of the show-pen require that Game-cocks shall be dubbed, a custom 

 arising from the purpose for which these fowls were formerly bred, and which 

 is still considered necessary by some breeders, where several cocks of this breed 

 are allowed the range of the poultry-yard. The object of dubbing is to remove 

 the comb, wattles and ear-lobes, and thus leave no point upon which an oppos- 

 ing cock may seize with his beak in fighting. ' The operation is performed by 

 clipping off the protuberances with a pair of sharp scissors; and it should be 

 done at the time the cocks have just attained their full growth. 



