30 
GALLINID^. 
Dorking fowls eat more than others, but as they are considerably larger, 
it is reasonable to believe that they do. They are very quiet and not 
given to roaming, which will much curtail the quantity of food neces- 
sary to generate animal heat and induce regular laying. 
July 18, 1849. — I saw at Mertoun, a hen with 28 young guinea- 
fowl following her, consisting of three broods brought out at different 
times, the oldest by herself, and being about four times the size of the 
youngest. The other broods were incubated under Malay hens, each 
of which killed two or three chicks by unconsciously trampling them 
to death with her large feet. These broods were consequently given 
in charge to the other hen — a large bird of the ordinary kind by 
whom they were at once gladly received, and treated with the same 
parental care as those brought out by herself. With good manage- 
ment she is able to gather the whole 28 under her wings. 
The love of the hen for maternity is, as well known, sometimes 
carried to an extraordinary — it might almost be said unnatural — 
extent. At the residence of a clergyman of my acquaintance, near 
Kirkcubbin, county of Down, in May 1849, a hen had her nest and 
eggs in the corner of an outhouse, close to where a cat had brought 
forth three kittens. The eggs being taken away, the hen, though not hav- 
ing commenced incubation, left her own nest on the evening of their 
removal, and took charge of the kittens. During the few following 
days she laid some eggs among her adopted young. These eggs were 
bkewise removed ; but she continued, nevertheless, to cover the kittens 
during the night, and to lead them about by day, giving utterance to 
the usual clucking note, ruffling her plumage, and in every way acting 
towards them as if they were her own progeny. The kittens, too, 
treated her as a parent, crouching under her for warmth, and one or 
more of them occasionally climbing on her back as chickens would do. 
The parent cat, good humouredly from the first, resigned her charge to 
the feathered nurse-tender, and lived on the most friendly terms with 
her during the period — about a month — in which she assisted her in 
the discharge of her maternal duties. 
The domestic fowl, and indeed all the species of Gallus, are natives 
of the more southern and eastern parts of Asia, or the neighbouring 
islands, where they are still found in a wild state. 
