By Ferd. J. Sudow, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. 



39 



F. Sudow displaying his magnificent 



tame Golden Pheasant Cock in 



the open Garden 



The male of the golden variety of pheasants and of 

 the Chinese ringneck is even more beautiful than the 

 English ringneck, which is a cross between the Chinese 

 and the English pheasant. The Lady Amherst is con- 

 sidered by many the handsomest of all the pheasant 

 family. His crest is black, with a few red feathers; 

 his face is a pale green; his tippet white, edged with 

 green and barred with black; his back orange red. The 

 two centre feathers of his tail are very long, of gray 

 color and barred with black. 



Could anything be more picturesque than a green 

 lawn dotted with such birds ? Their rich coats blazing 

 as they stand in the open, reflecting the sunlight, or as 

 they dart hither and thither among the shrubbery, make 

 a panorama of the landscape and add a domesticity to the scene that is otherwise unobtainable. 

 That is one reason why they are so much in demand by the owners of "country estates" and 

 summer homes. Always clean, dainty to a degree, graceful in shape and movement, timid, but 

 tame when they learn their grounds and masters, not noisy, they fill a place no other fowl can fill. 

 The hens, though handsome, do not wear the splendid colors that distinguish the justly 

 famous cocks. The hen of the golden pheasant, for instance, is of a rich brown color penciled 

 with black. Her breast has a slightly yellow color and her legs are bright yellow. Appar- 

 ently her pride is centered in her lord and master, and he is ever displaying his wonderful 

 wardrobe for her inspection. Except in the molting period, the cock is always a lively wooer. 

 He dances about from morning till night. He displays his tippet first on one side, then on 

 the other. He stands on his perch, drops his wings, and spreads the gold feathers on his 

 back, revealing steel-blue wing coverts, green shoulders and dazzling red breast. Then he 

 whistles a clear, sweet song, or spreads out his gorgeous tail with a graceful sweep, a wonder- 

 ful tail twenty-five of twenty-seven inches long, of brown color interspersed with black spots. 



Millions of Chickens are Killed Every Year by Rats 



Statistics say, rats are damaging this country about $30,000,000 a year. Every 

 fanner suffers from rats. Half of his chicken crops are killed by rats. The below trap is 

 constructed of the following: build a box 4 by 6 feet and line the inside walls with tin and 

 the floor with J^-inch poultry wire. Leave an opening on one side about 3 J4 inches square, 

 To this opening build a tube or tunnel (a passway, funnel shape) two feet long, the opening on 

 the end of this tube to be large enough to admit a rat. This tube to be made of wood and to 

 be easily removed at intervals. Now place food in this trap for a week or so in order to coax 

 the rat and get her accustomed to the place after which attach the tube. The rat will enter 

 the trap through this tube. As many as 40 rats have been caught in this trap in one night. 

 To be sure tack tin on the outside of the tube, also at the end of the tube around the mouth, 

 giving the rat no chance to crawl back into the 

 tube. Set the tube in an angle so it will be about 

 two ft. from the floor at the end. An excellent idea 

 is to have decoy rat in the trap. This trap will 

 answer to place poison for rats and for other ani- 

 mals of pry also. To poison rats use strychnine. 

 Dissolve a half ounce of strychnine in a pint of 

 water, add a pint of thick sugar or syrup and stir 

 thoroughly. In preparing the bait it is necessary 

 to moisten the food with the syrup. Whole grain 

 should be soaked over night in this syrup. The 

 best bait for rats is food of a kind which the rat A PRACTICAL RAT TRAP 



does'not get on your premises. In constructing rat-proof wooden floors drive a lot of spikes 

 through the floor to project the other side. 



