336 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND CO 
growing state, and as they pull it'off, instead of cutting it, 
with their beak, we will give our experience, and may remark, 
that we have had hundreds of these birds, sometimes from 
twenty to thirty at once. They were confined in cages. As 
we found, that when small pieces of heather were thrown in 
' they did not care to eat them, and as it was not convenient 
to get up large sods, such as we have described, we had it 
cut long, and then wove the scrag, or stalk, of it in the wires 
of the cage, leaving the shoot, or flower, inside. They always 
; ate it all. No bird is so dainty in its water, and none sutler 
so speedily if it is withheld. There is, however, one thing 
essential,—they must have sand, and that which they prefer 
is the white sand, washed up at the sides of a stream or rivulet. 
They are very fond of a large sod of grass, and greedily eat all 
the clover to be found in it. Eed and cared for in this way, 
a pair may be kept in a very small aviary. They speedily 
become attached to their owner; and, although it is years 
I since we had any, we still recollect with pleasure the hearty 
gallant crow of the cock, when, with spread tail and crimson 
eyebrows, he answered our morning challenge. 
It may not be uninteresting to mention here, that, for many 
months, we kept a pair in a cage two feet square. They were 
tame-bred, and the hen laid eight eggs; they were entrusted 
to a Bantam hen, and she was faithless to her trust. 
We have always thought, and do still, that both Grouse 
and .Black Game may be bred tame in aviaries, as Pheasants 
are. We once had four poults brought to us ; they were 
about a week old, and their mother had been killed. We 
placed them in the first cage we had at hand, which was one 
lately vacated by a Blackbird. We fed them with sopped 
bread, wheat, and chopped eggs. They throve well, till at 
last we discovered if we did not remove them, they would be 
in the position of the Yicar of Wakefield’s family picture, and 
we then put them in a cage two feet square. Here they 
lived well for some time, till there seemed to come over them 
one of those fits of longing, which, in children, are said to be 
cured with a sucking-pig’s tail, or a hare’s brains, and in 
Pheasants, with ants’ eggs. We were at our wits’ ends. They 
could not tell us what they wanted ; but it was evident, unless 
they had it, their apartments would soon be to let. Now, we 
are Hampshire people, and, although in London at the time, 
yet clinging to the traditions of home;—we loved wliorts, or, as 
they are pronounced, hurts, and bought them whenever they 
were to be had. Passing the cage, and seeing our drooping 
birds, we threw in some wliorts, with a feeling akin to that 
recorded of the ancient painter, who, dispairing to paint the 
bloody foam on the bit of the charger’s bridle, threw his 
brush at it in disgust, and accidentally accomplished that 
i which all his skill had failed to portray. We had a like 
success,—the poults picked up the whorts. In two hours they 
were well, and we never had any difficulty with them after¬ 
wards. We gave them whorts so long as they were to be 
had; they then took kindly to bread, oats, wheat, a little 
hempseed, and heather. We moulted them off,—good, 
large, well-grown, handsome birds, and they eventually went 
I abroad. We need hardly say, we have written of these birds 
with pleasure. We like them much, and they are calculated 
to be pets with any one. It is more difficult to say where 
they are to be had. They were formerly frequently brought 
for sale to London, but the demand for them was so uncertain, 
and the return, consequently, so precarious, that Ihere 
have been none sent of late. The Grouse used to come from 
Scotland, and the Black Game from Norway and Holland. 
If the eggs can be procured fresh, and put under a Bantam, 
there would be no doubt about rearing them. 
Quails are different birds; they are easily kept, and they 
are very hardy. They are not, however, so pleasing as the 
Grouse tribes. They lose all fear of man, but they do not 
become attached to him. They get accustomed to confine¬ 
ment, but they do not seem to enjoy themselves. Grouse 
1 seem to make the best of a bad job, aud to submit cheerfully 
to incarceration ; but Quails are sulky. 
Quails may be kept in any sort of cage; but, like most 
| other British birds, they do better on the ground than on 
boards. Their food is hempseed, canary-seed, and wheat, 
i hey require to have water constantly by them. We have 
no migration of Quails to this country. They come to France 
! ever Y J ear > f° r the breeding season. There are none in that 
country after the homeward flight in September ; yet, by a 
NTRY GENTLEMAN, August 24, 1858. 
strange contradiction, we have them in Cambridgeshire, parts 
of Hampshire, and in Ireland always. They breed there, 
and are to be found all through the winter. They are killed 
in numbers in Ireland, and are sufficiently numerous in Cam¬ 
bridgeshire to enable those who catch them to send them in 
lots, varying from two to three dozen at a time. Speaking 
from recollection, we believe they have only once been known 
to breed in confinement, and it was then in Lady Rowley’s 
aviary, in Suffolk. In purchasing, it is necessary to be very 
careful that a pair is bought, as nearly all the birds from 
abroad are males. The difference in the plumage of the sexes 
is, that the breast of the hen is accurately dotted with black 
spots ; the cock has none of them. They are of small value 
at this time of year, and may be bought at Baily’s, in Mount 
Street, for a few shillings the pair. 
CHEAP PENS EOR POULTRY SHOWS. 
All persons conversant with the working of a Poultry 
Show know, too often from dear bought experience, that the 
purchase or hire of pens forms one of the most formidable 
items in the expense. In almost all cases, provided exhibitors 
have confidence in the integrity of the Committees and Judges, 
the entry-fees may be regarded as paying the prizes, leaving 
the money taken at the doors to pay the cost of rooms, feed¬ 
ings attendance, and pens. Such being the case, every one 
interested in Shows must hail the issue of a cheap set of pens 
as a great boon. I have, therefore, no hesitation in calling 
the attention of Committees to the exceedingly efficient, con¬ 
venient, and cheap pens issued by Turner, of Sheffield. They 
are formed in front, top, and back, of square pieces of gal¬ 
vanised wire, the front piece having a convenient-sized door, 
which is hinged at the upper part, so as to fall down when a 
bird is taken out of the pen. The sides are solid, and prevent 
the birds seeing each other from adjoining pens. The whole 
fold together, so as to occupy, when out of use, the smallest 
possible space. The pens were first seen by me at the last 
Sheffield Show, where I acted as one of the Judges, and I 
can truly state that I never met with any that gave greater 
facility for the examination of the birds. The water-vessels 
are readily suspended on one of the horizontal wires, and 
cannot be overset; and perches, if required, are quickly laid 
across from front to back. The cost at which these pens are 
to be hired is ridiculously low,—those for pigeons being 6d. 
per pen, and those for fowls being 8d., and 10 d. extra size. 
I have obtained some from the maker, and find that for 
mating pigeons, or as coops, they are exceedingly convenient ; 
and as they fold up, and hang on a nail when out of use, they 
are much less likely to be injured than those that are always 
extended. 
"While speaking of the Sheffield Show, I may direct atten¬ 
tion to the substance used for covering the bottoms of the 
pens. It was simply cut chaff. A number of chaff-cutters 
were shown in action, and, consequently, there was a good 
supply. Its advantages were, that it was perfectly clean, did 
not soil the fowls, furnished them with a constant source of 
occupation in scratching, and prevented the dirt soiling the I 
plumage. In places where there is any difficulty in getting 
any other suitable material to throw into the pens, I think 
recourse may advantageously be had to straw chaff— W. B. 
Tegetmeier. 
CRYSTAL PALACE POULTRY^ SHOW. 
{From another Reporter .) 
There cannot be a second opinion, that the summer Show 
of chickens, just concluded, was decidedly the best that has 
ever taken place in the United Kingdom. To most of our 
poultry amateurs, it is well known that the spring of the 
present season was anything but favourable to the production 
of early chickens ; so much so, that grave doubts were enter¬ 
tained by some individuals as to the success of our summer 
chicken Shows. Nevertheless, the competition at the Crystal 
Palace was excessive, and proves how much may be done in 
poultry culture by experience and attention. 
The chickens there exhibited at once carry conviction that 
the office of a poultry Judge, at future Meetings, will be the 
