﻿A FEATHERED POLICEMAN. 

 By J. Winchell Forbes. 



Presented by Wm. Hubbell Fisher. 



Geese once saved Rome, but the particular individual here con- 

 cerned, appeared to find his office in repressing roam-ing propen- 

 sities in his associates ; and the palm for stupidity, so far as he was 

 concerned, must be relegated to some other ornithological diver- 

 sion, the Dodo, perhaps, or the Booby. 



Billy, as we called him, could boast of no long line of anser- 

 estry, at least he never did, and his history previous to his advent 

 in our neighborhood, in a peddler's wagon, is unknown. The 

 blandishments exerted by a daddy dollar, were powerful enough to 

 effect a change of ownership, and Billy entered upon a new life as 

 a chattel of the writer. The only thing that we at first noticed as 

 peculiar, was his great tameness; he, apparently, being greatly 

 pleased at being picked up and stroked. 



It being cold weather, he was placed in the chicken-house with 

 the rest of the fowls, and at once made himself at home, meander- 

 ing about with the evident desire of cultivating the acquaintance of 

 his new associates, and showing at once a marked preference for 

 certain individuals. In a few days, the weather becoming mild, 

 all were turned loose into an adjoining lot, and then Billy's sagacity 

 began to be manifest. 



We had a young Cochin cock that was just beginning to crow, 

 and Billy seemed to consider him as his especial charge. About 

 an hour after their entrance into the vacant lot, my wife was 

 alarmed by a hideous outcry at the back door. On looking out, 

 there stood Billy, flapping his wings, and emitting those ejacula- 

 tions peculiar to his species. Billy was in trouble, that was very 

 evident, and he most unmistakably gave my wife to understand 

 that she was wanted in the "lot, " and led the way in the most 

 vociferous manner. Two of the neighboring roosters had pitched 

 upon ours, and Billy, seeing him unable to cope with such odds, 

 had gone for help. Encouraged by the presence of my wife, he 

 attacked the enemy again, and rescued his friend. Not satisfied 



