PREFACE. 



The scope and intention of the present treatise, perhaps, is sufficiently declared in 

 the title page. Therefore, to waste the reader's time by further details would be as 

 impertinent as unnecessary. The hasty manner in which these pages have been com- 

 piled, the want of a more intimate knowledge of the history and pedigree of the vari- 

 ous breeds of our domestic birds, of which but few records are to be found, together 

 with the limited nature of the work itself, are the only apologies the author has to 

 offer for any errors and deficiencies with which he doubtless may be charged. With- 

 out great aid from those who have written before him, the volume, though not 

 large, never could have appeared ; yet, most of the current books on poultry are but 

 compilations of matter, valuable only to those practically acquainted with the sub- 

 ject, and many of them unaiiited to our economy as weli as to our climate, and full 

 of errors and confusion, that would be obvious to the attentive reader, even though 

 he never had seen a fowl in his life. 



In order to write a perfect work on poultry, two important desiderata would bo 

 required for its attainment ; one or the other of them would be indispensable — the 

 first, a complete set of full-sized colored figures of every variety, giving both the 

 male and female, the egg, and the newly-hatched chick, with accurate and technical 

 descriptions of their plumage and their characteristic properties ; the second, a col- 

 lection of stuffed specimens of the representatives of every breed for comparison and 

 reference. The first of these might be accomplished by a person, or an association of 

 persons of fortune, by procuring a complete collection of all the varieties whose 

 characters are decidedly distinct, both of this country and from abroad, and breeding" 

 them inrandrin for a series of years, as well as by judicious crossing with one an- 

 other. An enterprise of this kind, conducted with proper intelligence and experi- 

 ence, however trivial it may appear in the eyes of many, would be worth millions to 

 the country, and prove a boon to mankind. 



In order that he may not he accused of the reproach of " strutting in borrowed 

 plumes," the author has the candor to confess that he has made a free use of the 

 • labors of Pliny, Columella, Cuba, Aldrovandi, Mascall, Reaumur, Moubray, Par- 

 jnentier, Flourens, W. B. Dickson, J. J. Nolan, W. C. L. Martin, and the Rev. Edmund 

 S. Dixon, particularly of those of the four gentlemen last named, without giving 

 them, in numerous instances, such credit as the punctilious critic would seem to 

 demand. Be this as it may, the author has endeavored not to deviate from estab- 

 lished custom, except in cases where he deemed it expedient to change the language, 

 in part, for the sake of brevity, elucidation, or Americanising the subject, or adapting 

 it to our climate, economy, and social condition. Much of the matter, however, and 

 several of the illustrations, he claims to be original. With this avowal, he will de- 

 clare no more than his full trust in a candid consideration of whatever merit his 

 book may deserve. D.J. B. 



JVtw York, December 26(A, 1849. 



