VOL L. NO. 2 137. NEW YORK, JANUARY io, i89i. pr Sperye c ar NTS ' 
BROWN PATAGONIAN HEN “PRINCESS.” 
Several years ago an enterprising seedsman advertised a 
“new breed” of poultry—the Patagonian. A thrilling 
tale of a seaman, who found a coop of these wonderful 
birds on board a South American ship served to give the 
breed a sensational start. It went up like a rocket, but 
came down heavier than a stick. The R. N.-Y. bought 
several settings of the eggs, some of which failed to 
hatch at all, while others gave a variety of chickens 
of all sizes and colors. This seemed to be the experience 
of most of those who bought eggs, and the “ Black Pata¬ 
gonians” are now practically unheard of. They served 
their purpose of securing one season’s “boom” and 
that was the end of them. 
Last year, however, we began to hear of the “ Patago¬ 
nians” again. While visiting Mr. C. S. Cooper’s poultry 
yard to look at his Wyandottes, we noticed a pen of 
unique and strikingly handsome birds different from 
anything we had ever seen before. At first sight they 
seemed to be small Dark Brahmas, but an examination 
quickly showed that they had several distinct markings. 
“ What are those birds, Mr. Cooper ?” 
“ Brown Patagonians ! This breed is a ‘sport’ from the 
old Black Patagonians.” 
The birds were so handsome that we bought a setting 
of eggs at once. The hen “ Princess ” shown on page 
31, at Fig. 14, was hatched from this first brood. The 
picture is a good one—an excellent likeness of the hen. 
“Princess” weighs about 6X pounds. She Is dark gray 
in color, with delicate white penciling in the feathers. 
Her legs are short, yellow in color, and lightly feathered. 
The comb is small and fully protected by a crest or“ top- 
knot” which gives the birds an airy and spirited appear¬ 
ance. The body is round and plump, with an astonish¬ 
ing amount of breast meat. In fact, if one could take a 
small Dark Brahma hen, change her color a little, dimin¬ 
ish the size of her comb, add a top-knot, take some of the 
feathers from her legs and make them shorter, thicken 
her body and add breast meat and double her intelligence, 
he would have a hen like “ Princess.” 
Regarding the origin of the Brown Patagonians, Mr. 
C S. Cooper sends the following note: 
“ The Brown Patagonians originated with me. I 
bought a breeding pen of black birds, which were said 
to be and were bought for pure Patagonians. The first 
season I obtained a few brown chicks from their eggs. 
I reserved the chicks and sold the original black ones. 
The succeeding season I had a mixture of brown and black 
chicks: preferring the browns, I disposed of the blacks 
altogether, and gave the brown birds to my grandson as a 
present. From these came The Rural’s stock. They are 
the exact counter part of the original purchase, except in 
color. I found them hardy, fair layers of eggs, with 
plump, round bodies when dressed for market, and splendid 
birds for the table. They have small neat crests on their 
heads, medium short legs, feathered generally, rose combs, 
and as pets, are more gentle than any fowls I have kept.” 
Bergen County, N. J. C s. cooper. 
A TAME JACKDAW. 
How He Ran a New Jersey Farm. 
HENRY HALES. 
A few years ago when passing a bird store in New York, 
I saw a lot of young jackdaws—the Corvu3 monedula 
of Europe. I bought one. As he was tame and intelligent 
I at once gave him his liberty, first slightly clipping the 
flight feathers of one wing. This soon moulted out per¬ 
fectly, however. Mine is a farm house iu New Jersey. 
There is a garden in front and the rest of the ground is 
under small fruits and an orchard. Jack at once made 
himself so much at home that had his ancestors been 
domesticated for ages ho could not have shown himself 
more contented. He knew every member of my family, 
including dogs, cats and poultry. Of course he was full of 
little tricks, such as running off with any little article 
that attracted his fancy. Such pilferings he took to his 
hiding places, carefully depositing them wheu not ob¬ 
served. How curiously does this natural habit of the 
bird show itself 1 As soon as he was old enough to run 
about he took up any little thing he could carry and 
hid it under a carpet or mat. In the garden he was into 
every nook and corner and found much of his own living • 
but no matter where he was, we had only to call “ Jack ! ” 
and he would fly straight towards us. He would eat 
almost anything—bread, meat, fruits, etc., but was very 
fond of roasted peanuts, in search of which he would run 
his head into my wife’s pocket. He was extremely in¬ 
quisitive, looking into every crack, hole or crevice. When 
animated at seeing a chicken fight and when cold or 
hungry, he would keep up a loud cawing, which was not 
unpleasant. He was after all on the farm, watching their 
occupations, whether hoeing corn, or picking fruit, and 
was thoroughly attached to his mistress who fed him. Al¬ 
together he was an extremely cute little fellow. 
In spring he was much interested in the poultry, some¬ 
times settling disputes, but the most singular part of his 
life was his affection for one hen : he followed her all day 
long when not off on a little ramble or being fed. AI- 
CHANGING THE OLD SOUTH INTO THE NEW. 
Iiie above picture is drawn from a photograph taken by The Rural New-Yorker’s correspondent, Mr. J. C. Stribling. The buildings are what is left of a long row of “ negro 
quarters” built by John C. Calhoun for his slaves ! They are now being torn down to provide stone for building the new Agricultural College of South Carolina. At 
the left are shown several slaves owned by John C. Calhoun—“Uncle Tom ” with the axe, the old chair bottomer and the old spinner with her wheel. At the right is an exact 
picture of a squad of the “chain-gaDg ”—five negro criminals watched by their guard, with his rifle in hand. With the exception of the last wretched feature, no more striking 
picture of Southern progress has ever been printed. These stones will become historic. From slave quarters to college! This picture is the first of a series illustrating 
Mr. Stribling’s account of “Slave Farming” and “Free Negro Farming,” soon to appear in The Rurau Nkw-YORHER. 
