30 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, April 14, 185 1 
Whole colours should he bright yellow, grass green, or 
cinnamon; pieds to have a bright yellow ground. 
Can any successful breeder oi pied Goldfinch mules 
inform me the art of breeding those birds ? I have bred 
mules from the Goldfinch, Grey Linnet, Greenfinch, Siskin, 
and Redpole, but cannot succeed in breeding pied Gold¬ 
finch mules. Any information on this point would oblige 
me, and it would doubtless prove interesting to many 
others of your readers.—B. P. Brent. 
REARING ENGLISH SONG BIRDS.— 
DESTROYING MICE. 
I see in your paper directions for rearing English song 
birds. I have reared a great many every year by taking the 
birds in the nest when the feathers first appear. I put 
them in a cage, and entice the old ones to the house by 
hanging them against a wall; they will feed them regularly, 
and you will have little or no trouble with them. When 
the young ones can peck, and the old ones are about to leave 
them, I place some food on the bars of the cage, and, as 
the old ones feed them less and less every day, they will 
peck at it, and soon learn to feed themselves. I also try a 
few live worms and insects on the bottom of the cage. As 
soon as they sit on the side of the nest they should have 
plenty of water to drink and bathe in. I have reared 
Blackbirds, Thrushes, Larks, Linnets, and many others in 
the same way for the sake of watching the old birds feed 
them (except a few which I intended to keep). I recollect, 
when a boy, enticing some Larks upwards of a mile. 
I intend to try some Wrens this season. I think they 
would be useful Hying about the greenhouse; they would 
eat the insects and save fumigation. Of course the 
windows to be opened must be covered with fine net to 
prevent their escape. 
Last year two common Owls took up their quarters in 
one of my Pigeon boxes. I had a hole made through the 
wall near the place, arid a large box placed inside, with 
a roost across. They left the Pigeon boxes, and took to it. 
I sometimes go and peep into the box after they have left 
in the evening, and can count ten or twelve dead mice, and 
once a rat. I mention this because I think it might be 
useful to some of your readers that are overrun with 
mice.—S. C. H., Farnham. 
POLAND FOWLS. 
Seeing in a recent number a letter signed “ The Comb 
Champion,” about the combs of Poland fowls, allow me to 
say that I prefer the comb only in the cocks, and none at 
all in the hens. I have some capital specimens of Polands, 
and all the cocks have large combs, which I think give 
them a noble appearance; but my liens have either no 
combs whatever or very little indeed. I also wish to speak of 
the good laying qualities of Polands, especially of the Golden- 
spangled. I have four Golden Pullets which between them 
laid 100 eggs last month, and in the winter they laid five 
eggs weekly a-piece. I consider the Polands, Dorkings, and 
Hamburghs far superior to any other breed for laying. The 
Black Polands, also, are very good layers. Four pullets of 
mine laid four, sometimes five, eggs a-piece weekly during 
the winter months. Silver Polands I do not know much 
about, as I do not keep them.—A Poland Fancier. 
WHAT COLOUR SHOULD THEY BE? 
I have been a breeder of Game fowls for several years, 
but as yet never have been able to arrive at any definite ! 
conclusion what coloured legs the Judges require in the 
different classes. Perhaps through the medium of your 
Chronicle I may obtain information that may be useful to 
me. As regards feather and shape “ I am pretty well up ;” 
but why attach so much importance to the colour of their 
legs ? Judgments at our different Poultry Exhibitions seem 
ever contradictory. At one exhibition we find Black Red J 
Game with white and yellow legs taking the prizes; at ‘ 
another time the prize birds are all dark legs; at a third 
exhibition we see the first prize pen of White Game with 
yellow legs; and another Judge says, “I will never give a 
prize to White Game with yellow legs when I can possibly 
avoid it.” Amidst this medley of opinions, as a breeder of 
Game fowls what am I to do ? , 
Another point I can never comprehend is, why, when 
Black Reds and Duckwings compete together, the Judges 
give the preference to Black Reds. Good Duckwings aie 
more difficult to breed, and, when first-rate, are thrice the 
value of Black Reds, and, on the whole, are handsomer 
birds; yet why, I ask, do Judges, as I know some profess 
to do, give the preference to Black Reds, when a pen of 
equally meritorious Duckwings is passed unnoticed? 
With very little trouble breeders of Game fowls might lay 
down a standard of what should be considered perfection in 
the different classes, and what should be discarded; and 
thus Judges would gain more confidence and exhibitors more 
satisfaction, and the vexed question of superiority of colour 
in the leg be for ever set at rest. I must apologise for tres¬ 
passing on the space of your paper, but my desire is to see 
due deference paid to “Old England’s Game Cock” at our 
Poultry Exhibitions; and, instead of commendations on 
crosses of Malay and Game, attach to them cards of censure 
or disqualification.— Merry Legs. 
CHARACTERISTICS OF BELGIAN CANARIES. 
In answer to your correspondent, under the signature of 
“L. M.,” I beg to state that he unfortunately perceives a 
distinction without a difference. Mr. Moore is perfectly 
right in his third point, viz., “ narrow across the shoulders,” 
but, instead of standing out from the body, as he expresses 
it, standing forwards towards the neck conveys a better idea 
of this property; the wings should be thin, and lay flatly up 
to the body, so as to give narrowness to the shoulder. 
We consider a high-sliouldered bird better than a round 
one, provided the bird is very thin, narrow across, and well filled. 
As to the properties of the highest importance in the 
Belgian Canaries, we should decidedly say shoulder and 
narrowness across, and we also consider it the most difficult 
to attain and the easiest to lose. 
We are also at issue with “ L. M.” respecting the closing 
of the tail as one feather being produced by in-and-in 
breeding, and seldom arriving, as he states, at six inches, or 
even five and a half inches. There are two classes of 
Belgians, one with a fish tail, and the other piped or closed 
as one feather, which has led “ L. M.,” no doubt, to suppose 
the latter lias been produced by in-and-in breeding, which 
certainly is not the case. We can also produce both clear 
and variegated birds six inches and a half in length. 
Your other correspondent, who signs himself “A Breeder ” 
in this class, asks for an explanation of Mr. Moore’s seventh 
point, viz., “ strip themselves well up.” His phraseology is 
rather peculiar, but he evidently means voluntarily closing 
the feathers tightly to the body. 
The properties which I ventured to promulgate are being 
developed by a friend of mine, and have been submitted to 
me, which I think you will be in possession of ere this. 
There is happily existing in this locality an amount of 
skill and experience in the breeding of Canaries which I 
may safely assert will challenge any town in this country, 
so that whenever you feel at a loss, or my humble abilities 
fall short of the mark, those of my enlightened friends to 
whom I am attached and connected will be most happy to 
render you any assistance in this department. •— John 
Etiierington, Jun. 
OUR LETTER BOX. 
Food for a Cockatoo (A. Z. B.). —Bread and milk, with raw fruit, 
nuts, and green food, as cabbage and lettuce stalks. Meat, bones, 
and much hemp seed are too stimulating. We know of no cure for a 
bird of this kind biting otf its feathers. 
Fits in Parrots (M. H .).—Parrots and other birds kept in con¬ 
finement are frequently subject to epileptic fits of the kind described. 
There is no remedy for the disease; it is incurable alike in man and 
animals. 
Diseased Bantam ( Rustica ).—The Bantam hen described as having 
been filled with a thickened fluid, with the intestines swollen, and mixed 
with gristly lumps, was affected with inflammation, which terminated 
in the effects described. The disease possibly arose from a sudden 
exposure to cold or wet, and is not likely to affect the other fowls.— 
W.B.T. 
( Egg-eating Hens.— E. B. says, “ Will you tell your correspondent 
Baylis ’ that I once cured a Pheasant of her unfortunate propensity 
to eat eggs by taking a partially-eaten egg from the nest, and sub¬ 
stituting in place of the yolk mustard mixed with water to a similar 
consistence. I then replaced the egg in the nest, and suppose the bird 
did not approve of the flavour, as I have not lost an egg since.” 
