58 

FANCIERS’ JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 

next to the living-room. The hens enter the nests from 
one side, and the eggs are removed from the other. 
Above the row of nest-boxes is a platform, three feet 
broad, and so projecting into the living-room two feet be- 
yond the boxes. This constitutes the dining-table, and it 
has on the side next to the hall, and extending the whole 
length of it, a trough for the reception of soft food. 
Above the dining-table, again, at the distance of three 
feet, is another platform not so wide as the lower one, which 
serves as a shelf for the reception of various boxes, pans, 
&c., used in connection with the culinary department, but 
especially and designedly the support of three boxes, with 
handles, placed at equal intervals, under as many round 
holes in a large trough. This trough is a principal feature 
of the ‘‘chamber,” or sleeping apartment, which must be 
briefly described. It consists of this wide trough, with a 
floor slanting from its inner edge to the sloping roof of the 
building. 
The perches, three in number, extend, two of them, right 
over the trough, and the other along the slanting floor; so 
that the droppings fall either into the trough or on the floor, 
and thence into the trough. 
But we are going more into description than we intended. 
Some people carpet their floors with wool, some with sand ; 
but our poultry family seem to delight most in having their 
floor well littered with clean straw. But it must be renewed 
at least once a week, and so this morning the old straw was 
to be replaced by new. The boys were to do this, while 
their papa was to scrape and brush off the dining-table, and 
sweep the contents of the trough.into the three boxes and 
earry them out. When Carlie began to rake the straw, he 
found it all dry, and said he thought there was no need of 
changing it; but his papa told him that although it looked 
pretty well, yet, in fact, it was quite filthy, and the fowls 
had ceased to pick among it. He would see how industri- 
ously they would go to work, scratching, pecking at, and 
eating the little fibrous stems of the fresh straw as soon as it 
was furnished. 
By the time papa had the dining-table and the sleeping 
chamber nicely cleaned, using dry ashes to absorb any mois- 
ture that existed in places, Carlie had the old straw all raked 
up in a heap by one of the windows, ready to be thrown 
out; and Eddie had some new ready to take its place. Papa 
helped them to finish their work, and then all enjoyed seeing 
the whole family of ‘‘Cockey Lockeys’’ and ‘‘ Henny Pen- 
nies ’’ eat their breakfast. 
This consisted of a trough full of scalded bran and shorts, 
mixed and seasoned with a little salt and pepper; their 
drink being a basin of pure, tepid water. They ate with 
great relish, their soft feed, and then went to work with 
great satisfaction, as was predicted, scratching and pecking 
at their new carpet, while the boys and their papa responded 
to their call to breakfast; and so ended their first hours’ 
work in the New Year. 
J. L. DayMupDE. 
DAVENPORT, Jan. 1, 1874. 
+ ~—wpe@m + 
PIGEONS OF EGYPT. 
Tur Egyptians are great admirers of pigeons. M. De 
Norr says, ‘‘ The houses of Upper Egypt are vast dovecots, 
in which the owner reserves only a chamber for himself, 
and there he lodges with the hens, chickens, &c., exposed to 
the devouring insects which beset these animals.’’ The 
Egyptians spend much time on pigeons, They have many 

singular varieties, but, like most earnest fanciers, they keep 
the best for themselves, so that it is difficult to obtain even 
a sight of their best birds. Out of the varieties which are 
to be found in Egypt may be mentioned Turbits, Owls, 
Turn-crown Barbs, Tumblers, Lahores, Swifts, and hosts of 
others, no doubt, with which I am not familiar. Lahores 
are said to be Indian pigeons; such may be the case, but I 
know they are cultivated extensively in Alexandria, for I 
have on several occasions seen them unshipped at Liverpool 
from that place. Swifts are Egyptian birds, and remarkable 
ones; they are almost unknown in England, therefore at 
briefly describe them. They have a round head, short thick 
beak, and a very singular-looking pale yellow eye. They 
are actually small birds, though in appearance they are 
large. Their wings and tail are unusually long, and give 
the bird a novel appearance. The legs of these birds are 
short. Their colors are various; the most striking are those 
with a bronzed appearance and light hackle. Pied and 
spangled ones seem the most numerous. Why they are 
called Swifts I cannot comprehend. It cannot be from the 
speed at which they fly, for, like most birds with long pin- 
ions, they cannot fly fast. The long wing is most desirable 
in birds that have to perform great distances, but the short 
and sharp-pointed wing for speed. Owls, of course—that is, 
the smaller and better kind, are peculiar to Africa, as most 
fanciers know; in fact, that fruitful portion of Africa 
abounds in high-class pigeons.—J. W. Ludlow, in Journal of 
Horticulture. 
cr 
THE CARRIER-PIGEONS. 
REMARKABLE FLIGHT OF ‘‘ARIEL’’—SIXTY-FOUR MILES 
IN THIRTY MINUTES. 
We last week expressed the opinion when ‘ Ariel’’ was 
again flown he would make the distance to Rivercliff, sixty- 
four miles, in half an hour. The prediction met with little 
favor; but incredible as such a performance seems, it was 
actually verified in the bird’s flight on Saturday last. 
A gentlemen who is to form part of The Daily Graphic 
transatlantic balloon staff, was at the Domestic Sewing 
Machine Company’s establishment at three o’clock, and took 
the birds in charge. 
A crowd had assembled to witness the starting of the birds. 
At 3:10 the first bird was tossed up. It was a female 
home-bred, and appeared to be very much confused with the 
houses and the noise and movement on the streets. She 
flew about quite rapidly at first, and then began to fly in 
circles. She flew in this way until lost sight of. The second 
bird was a malehome bred. He was freed five minutes after 
the other one. He lingered upon the hand of the starter, and 
seemed rather averse to flying. When tossed up he also flew 
wildly about, and presently began to circle, and finally was 
lost sight of, as in the former case. At 3:20 the third bird 
was tossed up, [He was one of the imported birds, Gold 
Ring, ‘‘ No. 6.’’] His performance, on feeling his wings, was 
most remarkable. He rose in a very narrow spiral (‘just 
like a corkscrew,” said the starter) to an immense height, 
so as to be nearly lost to view. Then, catching sight of 
some distant familiar object on the Sound, he darted off 
homeward with great velocity. At 3:30 the bold and beau- 
tiful ‘‘ Ariel’”’ was taken from the cage. He comprehended 
the situation at once; and on being tossed up he unhesita- 
tingly took his course across Fourteenth Street and the Opera 
House, and was soon on the road home. All the birds had 
