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VOL. XXVII. No. iii. I 
WHOLE No. V222. ) 
NEW YORK, AND ROCHESTER, N. Y, JUNE 28, 1873. 
( PRICE SIX CENTS 
1 8ii.5U PER YEAR. 
fEntored according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by D. D. T. Moore, In the offloe of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.] 
®lt^ HJaturatist. 
ARCHITECTURE OF BIRDS. 
We give an illustration of the architecture 
of the Red Flamingo (Phcenicopterus ruber) 
wliich build their nests on the ground of 
coarsely tempered mud. These nests are curi- 
iously shaped, like a narrow truncated cone, 
about twenty inches high, with a basin at 
the top in which the female lays two or three 
white eggs, in order to hatch the eggs by 
the warmth of her abdomen, she gets astride 
the nest, with one leg on each side of it. 
This bird, the Rod Flamingo, measures 
fully four feet from the tip of the bill to that 
of the tail and six feet from the tip of the bill 
to the claws. The male, when oi full plum¬ 
age, is of a rose-red color with deep, purple 
win^s ; the female, and the young, for sev¬ 
eral years, are loss brilliant, the young, at 
first, being whitish, and the red first appear¬ 
ing on the wings. Tins Red Flamingo is 
f .und in Southern Europe. The American 
Flamingo, (P. Americanus) is found in many 
parts of both the East, and West coasts of 
America. It is more of an orange color. 
-»»•» 
FOOD FOR YOUNG CANARIES. 
Boil an egg hard and allow it to get cold. 
This is important, for if the yolk of a warm 
hard-boiled egg be rubbed-up or chopped 
fine, it will harden and dry very rapidly. 
The difference can easily be seen by cutting 
a cold egg through the middle, and also a hot 
ouc. The cold one will remain unchanged 
during the time that the surface of the hot. 
one will dry and crack ; and if the whole 
yolk be so exposed by being chopped fine, 
every fragment will present the same dry, 
caked appearance. Pass both the white and 
the yolk through the egg-box, which is 
simply a box about, say, <5 or 8 inches square 
(larger or smaller according to fancy or the 
requirements of the bird room), having no 
top, but a bottom of perforated zinc securely 
nailed on. The egg can be squeezed through 
this with a table-knife, much or little as 
occasion may require, and then mixed with 
its bulk of bread-crumbs rubbed fine in the 
hand. Some breeder's soak the bread, which 
should be stale, squeeze it dry, and mix with 
the egg. Others use one or other of the 
many plain or fancy biscuits which are sold 
in such variety ; but nothing is better than 
bread crumbs. This is a good stock diet for 
nestlings. When a hen is disposed to feed 
she will feed with auything and needs no 
tempting delicacies, but in case of disin¬ 
clination add a little crushed hempseed. Let 
the food be fresh at all times. Do not allow it 
to remain in the egg-trough till it turns sour. 
Keep up a supply of fresh green food, such 
us groundsel, duckweed, or lettuce, and see 
that the seed-box is duly replenished with 
cleau, white canary seed free from dust and 
^i -t. Summer rape and linseed may be 
given occasionally by way of change. 
W. A. Blakston. 
ARE ANIMAL8 GOVERNED BY INSTINCT 1 
The Popular Science Monthly lias this to 
say about the “ instinct” of animals: -What 
is instinct { It is “ the faculty of performing 
complex acts, absolutely without instruction 
or previously acquired knowledge.” Instinct, 
then, would enable animals to perform spon¬ 
taneous acts which, in the case of a man, 
presuppose ratiocination, a logical train of 
thought. But, when we test the observed 
facts which are usually put forward to prove 
the power of instinct, it is found that they 
are seldom conclusive. It was on such 
grounds that the song of birds was taken to 
be innate, albeit a very ready experiment 
would have shown that it comes from the 
education they receive. During the last cen¬ 
tury, Barringtou brought up some linnets, 
taken from the nest, in company with larks 
of sundry varieties, and found that every one 
of his linnets adopted completely the song of 
the master set over him, so that now these 
linnets—larks by naturalization—formed a 
company apart when placed among birds of 
their own species. A bird reared in a cage 
docs not construct the nest peculiar to its 
species, In vain will you supply all the 
necessary materials; the bird will employ 
them without skill, and will oftentimes even 
renounce all purpose of building anything 
like a nest. Does not this well-known fact 
prove that instead of being guided by in¬ 
stinct, the bird learns how to construct its 
neat, just as a man learns how to build a 
house i 
ihcej Httatomdrg. 
SCAB IN SHEEP. 
Mr. Henry Woods, steward and chief 
manager of the late Lord Walsingham, 
owner of one of the largest and choicest 
Southdown flocks in England, recommends 
for twenty sheep suffering with the scab, 
soft-soap, one and a quarter pounds ; shag 
tobacco, one pound ; spirits of turpentine, 
one pint; spirits of tar, one-half pint ; white 
arsenic, three ounces. This to be safe and 
effectual must be boiled so as thoroughly to 
dissolve the arsenic, and that he regards os 
an important point. Bettor put the tobacco 
when boiled into a flannel bag, and squeeze 
it sufficiently to get out all the strength, in 
order to get the full benefit of it. Then add 
water enough to make four quarts of the 
wasli for each sheep. It is not a dip, but n 
wash, and to put it on, an old teapot or n 
spouted tin should be used. The way to 
make it most effectual is to open the wool by 
making three marks on each side of th> 
THE RED TTIjA.T$/LTTSr G-O. 
sheep, also one down the shoulder, one on 
each side of the neck, one down the breast, 
and one down each thigh, and into the marks 
pour the liquid. In this as in many other 
things, if it is worth doing at nU, it is worth 
doing well, and so don’t be in a hurry about 
it. Do the work well. Rub the liquid well 
into the skin. After passing it along the 
grooves work it well In with the hand. Be 
in no hurry about ft as If you wanted to get 
over it as quickly as possible. Tho liquid 
will work a cure. There may be some spots 
whore the liquid has not penetrated. Exam¬ 
ine the sheep every two or three days for 
three weeks, by which time the disease may¬ 
be expected to bo eradicated. If there are 
any little white spots, rub on some of the 
following ointment : Mercury, four ounces ; 
Venice turpentine, three ounces; spirits of 
turpentine, one ounce. Let, them be worked 
up and thoroughly mixed together, then add 
about one and one-quarter pounds of lard 
melted over a slow fire, stirring while melt¬ 
ing. When taken off, continue to stir till 
cold, so as to mix the mercury well. 
RULES FOR BUYING WOOL. 
At a recent meeting of the Wisconsin Wool 
Manufacturers’ Assn at Milwaukee, the fol¬ 
lowing, in reference to wool buying, was 
adopted: 
Resolved, That tho following rules are 
adopted and will be strictly adhered to by 
members of this association. 
We abolish entirely the distinction between 
washed and unwashed as a basis on which to 
establish prices, und shall purchase all wool 
on its merits, as merchantable or otherwise. 
Merchantable fleeces must he dry, washed 
free from the yolk, well tagged, tied up with¬ 
out more twine than is necessary to hold the 
fleece closely together, free from burrs, chaff, 
and other foreign substances. The standard 
price on all wool purchased will be based on 
the price of mere! an table wool. 
Unmerchantable wool consists of fleeces 
unwashed or poorly washed, damp, burry, 
cotted, stuffed with dirt or poorer put inside 
of merchantable, so that the fleece may ap¬ 
pear bettor than it is ; also black fleeces, 
bucks’ fleeces, anrl those put up with undue 
amount of twine. Meaning to cover all wools 
that from whatever cause under our denomi¬ 
nation for mcrchifntable wool would be re¬ 
jected. This includes tegs, which should be 
cleansed and tied up separately, instead of 
in fleeces otherwise merchantable. 
Resolved, That we will purchase no un¬ 
merchantable wool at full prices, or any price 
that in our judgment will discourage the 
grower who puts up his wool honestly and 
well. 
COTS WOLD AND MERINO. 
The Country Gentleman says of Mr. Ged- 
des, one of the most practical fanners in the 
State of New York, that he has a large flock 
of sheep—crosses between the Cotswold and 
Merino—beautiful animals, with more of the 
line wool character than we should have 
expected, the fleece rather less in weight 
than that of full blood Merinos, but losing 
much less by washing, and selling at higher 
prices for combing. The cliief object of the 
cross, however, is the mutton, the carcass 
averaging about twenty pounds more than 
the Merino, and excellent in quality. 
Goats Breeding.—C. E. K., Cleveland, 0.: 
Yes ; goats will breed after two years, even 
if they do not bear kids at one year of age. 
