46 
WHY COCKS CROW AND HENS CACKLE. 
Birds living in a thick undergrowth require some means of 
knowing each other's whereabouts. All domestic poultry is 
descended from the jungle fowl (Galus Bankiva) and with 
them has. of course, come the note of call which remains with 
undiminished vigor. The use of the call we can easily under- 
stand, when we remember the conditions under which the wild 
birds exist. They keep in small flocks, headed by a single 
male, and travel over a considerable area in search of their 
food, which is found on the ground. Birds which take to the 
w r ing have ample means of keeping in touch with each other, 
and large ground varieties, such as the emu and ostrich, only 
inhabit the plains and can easily keep in view of their fellows. 
The hens, which are at times detained from wandering, ow- 
ing to stoppages for egg laying purposes, find it necessary to 
advise the rest of the flock of their whereabouts, and this is 
managed by a lusty cackle on depositing the egg. The cock 
bird of domestic poultry will often be noticed to come and 
express his approval of what has happened by sundry mutter- 
ings and splutterings in hen language, which is, no doubt, a 
traditional emotion handed down from the original stock. As 
to why the cock birds indulge in nocturnal crowing, it is rather 
more difficult to come to a logical conclusion, so one can but 
hazard the conjecture that it may be akin to the old watch- 
man's cry of "All's well" at various intervals during the hours 
of darkness. — Frank H. Robertson, Journal of Agriculture, IV. .A. 
world's egg laying record. 
Mr. W. L. Williams of Sunnyhurst Poultry Farm has estab- 
lished a world's record in egg laying with 1,494 eggs for six 
birds, laid in 365 days — the previous record being 1,481 eggs. 
The six hens produced eggs which represented a net profit of 
about two and a half dollars per bird. 
FOOD VALUE OF MILK. 
Two pounds of milk contain the same amount of solid food 
as one pound of beef, and as a food, milk is more digestible. 
mendel's law of breeding. 
The Queensland Agricultural Journal for October, 1907, 
quotes in full, with due acknowledgments, Judge Weaver's 
poultry article published in a recent issue of the Forester, 
entitled 'A lenders Law of Breeding," which it characterizes 
as "highly interesting, valuable and instructive." It is gratify- 
ing to know that the Hawaiian Forester is appreciated beyond 
our own islands. 
