CHAPTER XXII
OCCUPATIONS RELATED TO AVICULTURE
The value of a knowledge of domestic birds is not limited to the use which may be made of it in keeping them for profit or for pleasure. Any occupation in which a great many people are interested affords opportunities to combine the knowledge relating to it with special knowledge or skill in other lines, to the advantage of those who are able to do so. Just as the large market or fancy poultry business may develop from a small flock kept to supply the owner's table or to give him a little recreation, many special occupations grow out of particular interests of aviculturists. Some of these have been mentioned incidentally in preceding chapters. In this chapter the principal occupations associated with aviculture will be discussed both in their relation to that subject and with respect to their possible interest for those who plan to devote themselves to lines of work which would qualify them for special service in aviculture.
=Judging fancy poultry and pigeons.= There is the same difference between selecting one's own birds according to quality and judging the birds of others in competition that there is between performing well in a friendly game and performing well in a competition where the stakes are important and feeling runs high. Many fanciers who are good breeders and also good judges under other conditions make poor judges in competitions. In judging at shows decisions must be made quickly, there is little opportunity to rectify mistakes, and if a judge makes serious blunders he is severely criticized. A person who deliberates a long time before coming to a decision, and who is very sensitive to criticisms of his errors, even though he knows that some errors are sure to be made by every one and that unprejudiced exhibitors make allowance for this, will not make a successful judge of poultry and pigeons. Judges as a class are not the men who know the most about standard-bred birds or who are the most skillful in breeding them, although some of the best breeders are among the best judges. Almost all fanciers get opportunities to act as judges. If their work is satisfactory, the demand for their services increases until in time their income from this source may be large enough to make it worth while to adjust their other affairs to their engagements at poultry shows.
=Journalism.= There were a few books on poultry and pigeons written in the first half of the last century, and a larger number immediately following the "hen-fever" period. These and the articles on poultry and pigeons in agricultural papers constituted the literature of the subject until about 1870. Then there appeared a number of poultry journals, most of which gave some attention to other domestic birds. The demand for special journals arose because many people who were interested in poultry were living in cities and were not interested in general agriculture; they wanted more information about poultry matters than the agricultural papers could give. Advertisers of poultry and pigeons, and of goods bought by aviculturists, also wished advertising mediums through which they could reach buyers at less cost than they could through the agricultural papers. The rates for advertising are based upon circulation, and if only a small class of the readers of a publication are buyers of a particular class of goods advertised in it, the cost of reaching them may be too great. Whenever any interest becomes of sufficient importance, journals especially devoted to it are issued, for the convenience of buyers and sellers as well as for the information they contain. Until about 1890 nearly all poultry journals were small publications which the owners looked after in their spare time. Then they began to increase in number and importance, and before long there were a great many that gave regular employment to editors, advertising solicitors, and subscription solicitors, who were employed for their knowledge of poultry and their acquaintance with poultrymen as well as for special qualifications for their respective departments.
=Art.= The illustrating of poultry journals and books, and of the catalogues of fanciers and other advertisers in poultry literature, gives employment to a constantly increasing number of artists. In order to successfully portray birds for critical fanciers, an artist must be something of a fancier. It is not enough that he should draw or paint them as he sees them; he must know how to pose birds of different kinds, types, and breeds so that his pictures will show the proper characteristic poses and show the most important characters to their best advantage. Since the half-tone process of making illustrations was perfected, the greatest demand is for photographic work, but unless an artist is able to work over and complete a defective photograph with brush or pencil, he cannot make this line of work profitable. Most birds are difficult subjects to photograph, and only a small proportion of the photographs that are taken can be used without retouching. A photographer may work for an hour to get a bird posed to suit him, and then, just as he presses the bulb, the bird, by a slight movement of the head or foot, may spoil one feature in a photograph that is otherwise all that could be desired. An artist who can draw birds can remedy such defects; the ordinary commercial artist cannot.
=Invention.= The most important invention used in aviculture is the artificial incubator. Methods of hatching eggs by artificial heat were developed independently by the Egyptians and by the Chinese thousands of years ago, and are still used in Egypt and China. The arrangements used in these old hatcheries are crude, and the success of the operation depends upon exceptional skill and judgment on the part of the operator. Operating incubators is a business continued in the same families for centuries. Each hatchery does the hatching for a community.
In the early part of the eighteenth century a French scientist named Reaumur, who was much interested in poultry, began to make experiments in artificial hatching and brooding. In 1750 he published a very full account of these and other experiments which he had made with poultry. His idea was to devise a modification of the Egyptian practice of hatching in ovens, suited to the conditions of a more advanced civilization. He succeeded in hatching eggs by utilizing the waste heat from a baker's oven, and also hatched eggs in hotbeds heated with decomposing manure. He applied the hotbed principle to the brooding of chickens with some success. But the methods that he devised were not adapted to general use.
After Reaumur many others experimented with artificial hatching. Some of the ideas were obviously more impractical than those of Reaumur, but the experimenters tried them out and sometimes succeeded in hatching chickens by very peculiar and laborious processes. One man in England, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, hatched some chickens from eggs placed in cotton batting in a sieve adjusted over a charcoal fire in a small fireplace. The fire was watched constantly for three weeks, either by himself or by some member of his family. He demonstrated that eggs could be hatched in this way, but not that it could be done profitably. Practical incubators were not produced until about forty years ago.
Although incubators and brooders have been brought to a relatively high state of efficiency, they are far from perfect. Inventors of the best machines are still studying ways to improve them. In this and many other fields there are opportunities for inventive genius.
=Education and investigation.= Lectures on poultry have been given occasionally at agricultural institutes in the United States since about 1860. After 1890 the demand for such lectures, and the number given, constantly increased, and ability to speak in public became valuable to one versed in aviculture. Then the study of poultry culture was introduced into agricultural colleges, and a new field was opened to poultry keepers with a faculty for teaching, and for trained teachers with special knowledge of domestic birds. The teaching of poultry culture impressed upon those engaged in it the need of scientific investigation of many problems not clearly understood even by the best-informed poultrymen.
The agricultural experiment stations had been giving little attention to some of these problems except in a desultory way and without important results. As the demands for more accurate information on many topics increased, many of the experiment stations began to make important poultry investigations. For this work men specially trained in various sciences were required. As a rule the men that were secured for such work knew very little about poultry when they began their investigations, but it was much easier for them to acquire a knowledge of poultry sufficient for their needs than for persons who had poultry knowledge and no scientific training to qualify for positions as investigators. The field of investigation of matters relating to poultry is constantly being extended. Proficiency in physics, chemistry, biology, surgery, and medicine, and in higher mathematics as far as it relates to the problems of any of the sciences mentioned, will always be in demand for scientific work in aviculture. In the future the most efficient teachers and investigators will be those whose early familiarity with domestic birds has given a greater insight into the subject than is usually possessed by those who take up the study of the subject comparatively late in life.
=Manufacturing and commerce.= It is very much easier to build up a large business in the manufacture or the sale of articles used by poultry and pigeon keepers than to build up a large business as a breeder of domestic birds of any kind. As has been stated in connection with nearly every kind of bird mentioned in this book, a poultry keeper's operations are limited by the difficulty of keeping large numbers of birds continuously on the same land, and also by the exacting nature of the work of caring for them under such conditions. In manufacturing and commercial operations there are no such limitations. The possibilities of development depend upon the extent of the demand for the articles that are manufactured or sold, and only a small proportion of the employees need to be persons versed in aviculture. But in competition with other manufacturers or merchants those who understand domestic birds and know all the different phases of interest in them have a very great advantage over those who do not.
=Legislation and litigation.= The rise of new industries creates new problems for legislators, executive departments, courts, and lawyers. An industry in which many people are interested eventually reaches a stage where it is profitable for lawyers to specialize to some extent in laws affecting it, and politic for legislators and administrators to do what is in their power to protect the interests of those engaged in it, and to advance those interests for the benefit of the whole community. A special field is opening for lawyers familiar with aviculture and with its relations to other matters, just as within a few years the field has opened to teachers and investigators.
* * * * *
The possible uses of a knowledge of aviculture to young people who are naturally inclined toward intellectual professions, art, invention, manufacturing, or trading have not been given for the sake of urging students to direct their course especially toward work connected with aviculture. The object is only to show those who take an interest in the subject that it is worth while to cultivate that interest for other reasons, as well as for the profit or the pleasure that may be immediately derived from it.
INDEX
Abbotsbury, old swannery at, 229
Africa, guinea fowl in, 202; ostrich breeding in, 235
African goose, 164; illustrated, 164
Age, of earth, 25; of fowls, 92; of geese, 169; of swans, 223; of ostriches, 232
Agricultural experiment stations, interest of, in aviculture, 308
Agricultural fairs, poultry exhibitions at, 292
Aigret of peafowl, 208
Albumen, formation of, in egg, 17
Alfalfa, 140, 236
American Wild Goose, 165; illustrated, 166
American Wild Pigeon, 241
Amherst Pheasant, illustrated, 214
Ancona, 64
Andalusian, Blue, 49, 64
Animal kingdom, place of birds in, 2
Animals, having bird characters, 1; predacious, prevent use of colony system, 107
Annual production of poultry and eggs in United States, 290
Antwerp Homer Pigeon, 246
Art, relation of, to poultry culture, 306
Aseel, 50
Ashes, use of, in poultry house, 75
Asia, peafowl in, 208; pheasants in, 212
Asiatic races of fowls, 49
Australia, Black Swan discovered in, 223
Austria, goose growing in, 167
Aylesbury Duck, 129; as a market duck in America, 147
Babylonians, knowledge of fowls among, 36
Bache, importation of pheasants by, 212
Bakubas, ducks among the, 127
Bantams, 66; illustrated, 37, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70
Barbs of feather, 9
Barnum, P. T., promoter of an early poultry show, 53
Barrel of dressed poultry iced for shipment, illustrated, 284
Barring, quality in, 295
Bat, a flying animal, 1
Bath, for ducks, 139; for pigeons, 261; for canaries, 273
Beard, of fowls, 10; of turkeys, 180
Bedding for ducks, 138
Beef scrap, 116, 140
Belgian Canary, 271; illustrated, 271
Bill, of duck, 124; of goose, 158
Bird, use of term, 2
Birdseed, composition of, 273
Black Swan, 223
Blackhead in turkeys, 198
Blood, feeding, to fowls, 90
Boat, swimming bird model for, 3, 124
Boston, first poultry show held in, 52
Boston Common, feeding pigeons on, illustrated, 245
Bourbon Red Turkey, 187; illustrated, 188
Brahma Bantams, 71; illustrated, 70
Brahmaputras, 53
Brahmas, Light, illustrated, 22, 36, 37; Dark, illustrated, 51; used for roasters, 116
Bran, 78, 89
Branding swans, 225
Bread, feeding, to swans, 228
Breast in birds, relation of development of, to flight, 12
Breed, defined, 28
Bremen Goose, 161
Broiler growing, 112
Bronze Turkey, 183; illustrated, 186
Broody hen, actions of, 93
Brown eggs, preference for, in Boston, 289
Brunswick Goose, 161
Bucks County Fowl, 56
Buff Turkey, 187
Buoyancy of aquatic birds, 15
Burnham, author of "The History of the Hen Fever," 53
Buttermilk, 98
Cabbage for poultry, 89, 117, 140
Cackling of fowls, 33
Cages for canaries, 272
Call Ducks, 133, 134; illustrated, 135
Cambridgeshire Bronze Turkey, 182
Canada Goose, 165; illustrated, 166
Canary Islands, canaries in, 269
Candling eggs, 21, 283; illustrated, 282
Capon, 116
Carneaux squabs, illustrated, 266
Carrier Pigeon, 243
Cart, used on poultry farm, illustrated, 102
Cats and canaries, 272
Cayuga Duck, 131
Cement floor in poultry house, 74
Central America, turkey in, 181
Ceylon, peafowl in, 209
Chalazae, function of, 17
Charcoal fire, incubating eggs over, 307
Chicken, exclusion of, 22; technical use of term, 35
Chickweed for canaries, 273
Children as poultry keepers, 39, 42
China, introduction of poultry into, 36; Pekin Duck brought from, 131; artificial incubation in, 305
China Geese, 162; illustrated, 162, 163
Chinese races of fowls, 51
Cities, relation of growth of, to poultry culture, 278
Classes of domestic birds, 6
Clover, 140
Clucking of hen, 33, 93
Cochin, Buff, illustrated, 50; Black, used in making Plymouth Rock, 57; Partridge, judging, 296
Cochin Bantams, 69; illustrated, 69
Cock, use of term, 34
Cockfighting, prohibition of, 5
Cockerel, 35
Cold storage, 112, 285
Colony houses, illustrated, 101, 103, 104, 106
Colony system of poultry keeping, 101
Color, in feathers, 10; of wild ancestor of domestic fowl, 27; of wild ancestor of domestic pigeon, 247; consideration of, in judging, 294
Comb, of fowl, 33, 117; of guinea, 200
Commerce, relations of, to aviculture, 308
Common Pheasant, 214
Comparison judging, 299
Confinement, effect of, on egg production, 72, 74
Cooling dressed poultry, 285; illustrated, 287
Coop, made of dry-goods box, illustrated, 75; for hens and chicks, 97; illustrated, 97, 98, 106; for turkey hen and brood, illustrated, 197; for pheasants, illustrated, 218, 219
Corn, cracked, 78, 98, 103, 116, 140, 175; feeding, on cob, 89; soaking whole, 89; for sitting hens, 95; stale, 220
Corn meal for chicks, 78, 89, 97
Cornfield, poultry in, 106; illustrated, 122
Cracker crumbs for chicks, 98
Creameries as egg-collecting depots, 280
Creamy tint in white feathers, cause of, 11
Crest, occurrence of, in fowls, 10; consideration of, in judging, 295
Crested White Duck, 133
Crop, function of, 16; size of, in duck, 140; peculiarity of, in ostrich, 232
Croppers, 250
Crossbred, defined, 29
Crow of cock, 33
Crower, colloquial use of term, 35
Cuckoo, laying habit of, 1; mating habits of, 3; fowls, 43
Curl in tail of drake, 127
Cuttle bone for canaries, 273
Cygnet, 224
Darknecked Pheasant, 214
Decoration, feathers used for, 32
Decorative plumage, 10
Deer's hair for canaries' nests, 274
Diet of birds, 15
Disqualifications for exhibitions, 298
Domestication, adaptability of species to, 7
Dominique, 43, 55, 57; illustrated, 43
Dorking, 44, 55; illustrated, 44
Dove, origin and use of term, 240
Dovecots, great number of, in England in medieval times, 252
Down, defined, 8; replaced by feathers, 11; sometimes a disqualification, 299
Dragoon pigeon, 251; illustrated, 241
Drawing poultry, 289
Dressed poultry, 283; illustrated, 285
Dressed squabs, illustrated, 267
Driving turkeys to market, illustrated, 199, 280, 281
Droppings board, 75
Duck farms, illustrated, 146, 147, 149, 150
Dumb ducks, 127
Dust bath for fowls, 76
Dutch artists, paintings of poultry by, 48
Dutch races of fowls, 47
Dwarf fowls, 64
Eared Pheasants, 216
Earth, relation of age of, to evolution, 26
East India Duck, 133
Egg, description of, 16
Eggs, uses of, 4; number of, set under hen, 95; boiled for chicks, 98; quality of ducks' and hens', compared, 124
Egypt, fowls in ancient, 36; goose sacred in ancient, 166; pigeons in, 244; artificial incubation in, 305
Egyptian Goose, 165
Egyptian hieroglyphics, duck in, 127; goose in, 157
Embryo, growth of, 16, 21
Emden Goose, 158; illustrated, 158
England, colony poultry houses in, 107
English Pheasant, 215
English races of fowls, 46
Evolution, theory of, 25
Exhibition Game Bantams, 70; illustrated, 37
Exhibitions of poultry, illustrated, 292, 297
Face of fowl, appearance of, 8
Fancier, philosophy of the, 302
Fanciers, influence of, on development of types, 37
Fancy poultry plant, illustrated, 121
Fantail Pigeon, 249, 296; illustrated, 298
Farm stock of poultry, illustrated, 84
Fattening chickens in crates, illustrated, 279
Feather beds, 31
Feathers, uses of, 4, 31; structure of, 8; resistance of, to water, 15
Feeding young ducks on duck farm, illustrated, 153
Fence for ducks, 139; for turkeys, 192, 197
Feral race, distinguished from wild, 35
Fertile egg, appearance of, when tested, 96
Feudal system, regulation under, of use of birds in hunting, 5
Flatheaded Canary, illustrated, 271
Flaxseed for canaries, 272
Flies, ducks catching, 144
Flight of birds, 2
Floors in poultry houses, 73
Fly for pigeons, 257
Flying machine, bird a model for, 2
Food, of birds, 15; of fowls, 78
Foot feathering, 37; consideration of, in judging, 295
Fowl, use of term, 2
Fowls and pheasants in same yard, illustrated, 220
French races of fowls, 48
Frillback Pigeons, illustrated, 252
Frizzled fowls, 65
_Gallus Bankiva_, 35; cock, illustrated, 42
Game, resemblance of Brown Pit to wild progenitor, 27
Game Bantam, 37
Gander, 160; fighting, in Russia, 162
Garden, keeping chickens in, 83; keeping ducks in, 145
Germ of egg, 16
German artists, paintings of poultry by old, 48
German races of fowls, 47
Germany, goose growing in, 167
Gizzard, function of, 16; peculiarity of, in ostrich, 232
Gobbler, use of term, 180
Golden Pheasant, 215
Goldfinch, American, erroneously called a canary, 270
Goose-fattening farm, illustrated, 175
Goslings, growth of, illustrated, 172; grazing, illustrated, 174
Gough, John B., a noted poultry fancier, 53
Grade, defined, 29
Grass, in poultry yards, 72; growing goslings on, 172
Grasshoppers, turkeys as destroyers of, 194
Gray Lag Goose, 160
Green ducks, 144
Grit, use of, for poultry, 16
Guinea, color pattern in feathers of, 10; White, illustrated, 202, 204
Gunpowder, use of pigeon manure in manufacture of, 253
Hair, relation of, to feathers, 8
Hamburg, Silver-Spangled, illustrated, 46
Hamburg chicks, early growth of feathers of, 11
Handling ducks, 125
Handling pigeons, 262
Harz Mountain Canaries, 271
Hatching season, natural, 93
Hawk-colored fowls, 43
Hawks and guineas, 204
Hempseed for canaries, 274
Hen Pigeons, illustrated, 251
Hen-tailed Bantams, 70
Heron, flight of, 12
Holland Turkey, White, 182; illustrated, 184, 185
Homer Pigeons, 243; Flying, illustrated, 241, 242, 246; squab-breeding, illustrated, 247; squabs of, illustrated, 266
Houdan male, illustrated, 48
House, for fowls, 73, 85, 101, 108; illustrated, 74, 76, 77, 85-89, 118; with open front protected by hood, illustrated, 89; for growing chickens, illustrated, 99, 116; old stone, on Rhode Island farm, illustrated, 100; moving a colony to, 104; interior of a compartment in, illustrated, 110; for ducks, 138; illustrated, 150, 151; for geese, 169; for turkeys, 190; illustrated, 191; for pheasants, 219
House and fly for pigeons, illustrated, 255, 259, 262-265
Houses at agricultural colleges and experiment stations, illustrated, 79, 88, 90, 91, 109
Hungarian Pheasant, 214
Hybrid, defined, 25
Ice supply on large duck farms, 154
Incubation, appearance of eggs at various stages of, illustrated, 20, 21; period of, 96, 142, 171, 196, 205, 210, 220, 228, 236, 267, 275
Incubator cellar, illustrated, 115
Incubators, 306; introduction of, on Long Island duck farms, 148; mammoth, 152
India, antiquity of fowl in, 36; peafowl in, 209
Indian Runner Duck, 132, 141; illustrated, 132, 133
Insects, birds as destroyers of, 5
Instinct, relation of, to incubation, 19; homing, in pigeons, 243
Intelligence of birds, 3
Intensive poultry farms, 110
Invention, relation of, to aviculture, 306
Italian races of fowls, 46
Jacobin Pigeon, illustrated, 243
Japan, antiquity of fowl in, 36
Japanese Bantams, 68; illustrated, 68
Japanese Long-Tailed Fowl, illustrated, 52
Japanese races of fowls, 51
Java, Black, 58
Java, peafowl in, 209
Jersey Blue, 56
Johnnycake for chicks, 98
Journalism, 305
Judging, 293, 304
Kafirs, their method of pulling stumps of ostrich plumes, 238
Kentucky, turkeys in, 189
Killing poultry, 284
Land plaster, use of, in poultry houses, 75
Langshan, Black, illustrated, 40, 41
Language, capacity of birds for, 2
Laugher Pigeon, 239
Lavender Guinea, 203
Lawn clippings for poultry, 76
Laying capacity of birds, 18, 127
Laying habits of birds, 141, 170, 195, 266
Leaves for litter in poultry houses, 76
Leg of bird, contraction of, in perching, 14
Leghorn, 46; illustrated, 10, 11, 45, 81; early growth of feathers of, 11
Legislation relating to aviculture, 309
Lettuce for canaries, 273
Lice, how fowls rid themselves of, 77; to destroy, on sitting hens, 96
Lime in eggshells, 16
Lincolnshire Buff, 63
Litter in poultry houses, 76, 138
Lizard Canary, 271
Long Island duck farms, 146
Losses due to bad handling of poultry produce, 282
Lyell, James C., on origin of domestic pigeon, 240
Malay fowl, 50
Mallard Duck, 126; illustrated, 127
Maltese Hen Pigeon, 252
Manchester Coppy, 271
Manchurian Pheasant, illustrated, 215
Mandarin Duck, 134
Mangel-wurzels, 89
Manure, poultry, use of, 75; pigeon, used in manufacture of gunpowder, 253
Mash, time of feeding, 78; method of making, 89; use of, 89, 98, 140; cooking, 103
Meat meal, 140
Mexico, turkey in, 181
Middlemen, 275
Milk, feeding, to chicks, 98; pigeon, 267
Minorcas, illustrated, 48, 49
Molting, 11
Monaul, illustrated, 216
Mondaine Pigeon, Swiss, illustrated, 242
Mongolian Pheasant, 215; illustrated, 213
Mongrel Geese, illustrated, 167
Monks, probable originators of many types of fancy fowls, 48
Mule, defined, 25
Muscovy Duck, 125, 129; illustrated, 128
Mute Swan, 222
Narragansett Turkey, 183
Native fowls in America, 43
Neck, handling ducks by, 125
Nest building, 18
Nest eggs, 94
Nests, fowls', 94; ducks', 138; geese's, 171; turkeys', 195; swans', 228; pigeons', 259, 264; canaries', 274
Netherlands, Indian Runner Duck in, 132
Netted Guinea, 203
New Jersey, pheasant introduced into, 213
Norfolk Turkey, 182
Norwich Canary, illustrated, 270
Nubia, ownership of fowls in, 39
Nun Pigeons, illustrated, 252
Oatmeal for chicks, 98
Oats, 78; feeding, in sheaf, 89
Offal of slaughtered animals, feeding, to poultry, 90
Oil in feathers, 11
Oregon, pheasant introduced into, 213
Ornamental birds, number of, in domestication limited, 7
Ornamental ducks, 156
Ornamental geese, 164
Ornithorhynchus, resemblance of, to bird, 1
Orpington Ducks, Blue, illustrated, 134
Orpington fowl, 63; illustrated, 64, 65
Ostrich, illustrated, 231, 233, 235, 237
Outdoor quarters for fowls, 72
Ovary, 17
Oviduct, 17
Ovules, numbers of, in hens, 18
Owl Pigeon, illustrated, 249
Oyster shell for fowls, 81
Packing houses, relation of, to distribution of poultry produce, 280
Pairing of birds, 3, 168, 178, 205, 210, 219, 236, 262, 274
Partridge, peculiarity of flight of, 13
Passenger Pigeon, 241
Peacock, tail of, 10; Indian, illustrated, 207
Pearl Guinea, 203
Peas for pigeon food, 265
Pekin Duck, 131, 147; illustrated, 131, 140, 141
Penguin, locomotion of, 1
Perches for pigeons, 259
Persia, pigeon in ancient, 245
Petaluma, egg farming at, 119; illustrated, 117
Philadelphia chickens, 114
Phoenix cockerel, illustrated, 52
Pied Guinea, 203
Pigment in feathers, 11
Pigmy Pouters, 251
Plantain for canaries, 273
Plucking live geese, 167
Plymouth Rock, Barred, 57, 295; illustrated, 54, 55, 80; White, 58; illustrated, 56; Buff, 59, 62; illustrated, 57; Columbian, 61; illustrated, 62; Silver-Penciled, 61; illustrated, 58
Point Judith Bronze Turkey, 183
Polish, 47; White, 34; Silver-Spangled, illustrated, 39; White-Crested Black, 47
Pomeranian Goose, 161
Poult, 180
Pouter Pigeon, 250, 297; illustrated, 250
Preserved eggs, 286
Prices, how determined, 278; of fancy poultry and pigeons, 301
Profits, computation of, 72
Pullet, 35
Pure-bred, defined, 30
Quail, laying of, in captivity, 18
Quantity of food, 80, 88
Range, advantages of, 85
Rapeseed for canaries, 273
Reaumur, experiments of, in incubation, 307
Reptile, resemblance of duckling to, 142
Retailing poultry produce, 275, 288
Rhode Island, goose growing in, 173
Rhode Island Red, 61, 100; illustrated, 32
Ringneck Pheasant, illustrated, 212
Roaster growing, 113; illustrated, 114
Rock Pigeon, 241
Roller Canaries, 271
Roller Pigeons, 248
Romans, distribution of domestic fowl by, 36, 46; peacock a favorite dish among, 209
Rooster, use of term, 34
Rose-Comb Black Bantam, illustrated, 69
Rotten egg, appearance of, when candled, 96
Rouen Duck, 130, 141; illustrated, 130
Rudiments of judging poultry, 293
Ruff, occurrence of, in pigeons, 10
Rumpless Fowl, 65
Running board for pigeons, 260
Runt Pigeon, 251; illustrated, 241, 250
Russia, geese in, 167
Rye, 78, 116, 154
Saddleback Goose, 161
St. Andreasberg Roller, 271
Salt for pigeons, 265
Sawdust in poultry house, 75
Scalding poultry, 284
Scale on beak of young birds, 22
Scales, relation of, to feathers, 8
Scoring, 300
Scotland, wild pigeon in, 240
Scratching of birds, use of, 14
Sebastopol Goose, 165; illustrated, 165
Sebright Bantam, 70; illustrated, 70
Shanghai, 53
Shavings for litter in poultry house, 76
Shell of egg, formation of, 17
Silky fowl, 65
Silver Pheasant, 215
Sitting hen, illustrated, 19; food for, 95
Slate Turkey, 187
Slip, an imperfect capon, 117
Snow, effect of, on poultry, 81, 92, 107, 125, 269
Social relations of birds, 3
South America, guinea in, 202
Space per bird in poultry house, 86
Spain, turkey in, 181
Spanish Goose, 162
Spanish, White-Faced Black, illustrated, 38
Spanish races of fowls, 49
Sparrow, laying capacity of, 18
Species, predatory relation of, 6; defined, 24; origin of, 25
Sprouted oats, 78
Spurs, 33, 117
Squab, 240; illustrated, 266, 267
Squeaker. See Squab
Standard-bred, defined, 30
Standards for judging exhibition poultry, 299
Strain, defined, 29
Stub feather, 9
Subvariety, defined, 29
Summer quarters for poultry, illustrated, 123
Sunlight, benefits of, 73
Swan and nest, illustrated, 224
Swannery, an English, illustrated, 228
Swans feeding on the water, illustrated, 227
Swedish Duck, Blue, illustrated, 133
Swimming, of birds, economic value of, 14; effect of, on growth of ducks, 151
Swiss Mondaine Pigeon, illustrated, 242
Table fowl, Dorking best type of, 47
Table scraps, feeding to fowls, 77
Tail of bird, its use in flight, 14
Temperature for incubation, 21
Tennessee, turkeys in, 189
Testing eggs to determine fertility, 21, 96, 142
Thoroughbred, defined, 30
Tippler Pigeon, 247
Tom-turkey, 180
Toulouse Goose, 161; illustrated, 159, 160
Train of peacock, 207
Tricolor Canary, illustrated, 270
Triganica Pigeon, 242
Trumpeter Pigeon, 239; illustrated, 249
Tula Goose, 162
Tumbler Pigeon, 247; illustrated, 244, 258
Turbit Pigeon, 251
Turkey, common, illustrated, 181
Turkey hen with brood, illustrated, 198
Turkey nest, illustrated, 196
Turkey roost, illustrated, 194
Turnips for poultry, 90
Uses of birds in domestication, 4
Utility types of poultry, 303
Varieties, 27
Variety, defined, 28
Ventilation, 261
Versicolor Pheasant, 215
Virginia, turkeys in, 189
Voices of birds, 3, 33, 126, 159, 180, 200, 207, 223, 232, 238, 269
Waste food consumed by street pigeons, 256
Water, 81, 98, 141; imperviousness of feathers to, 15; warming, for fowls, 81; propensity of young ducks for, 145; constant supply of, for pigeons, illustrated, 261
Wattles, of fowl, 33; of turkey, 179; of guinea, 200; of pheasant, 211
Web of feather, 9
Webster, Daniel, exhibitor at first poultry show in America, 53
West Indies, guinea in, 202
Wheat, 78, 98, 141
Whistling Swan, 222
White eggs, preference for, 289
White of egg, formation of, 17
Wild birds, place of, in civilization, 5
Wild geese, growing, in captivity, 178
Wings, movement of, in flight, 12
Women as poultry keepers, 39, 42, 122
Wood Duck, 134
Wyandotte, 59; Silver-Laced, illustrated, 59; White, 60; illustrated, 60, 82; Partridge, illustrated, 61; Silver-Penciled, illustrated, 61; Buff, origin of, 62; Columbian, illustrated, 62
Yard of small poultry fancier, illustrated, 120
Yards, for fowls, 73; for ducks, 138; for geese, 169; for turkeys, 190; for pheasants, 219
Yellow-legged fowls, American preference for, 55
Yolk of egg, 17
Yorkshire Canary, illustrated, 270
Transcriber's Notes.
In the text version, the oe-ligature was changed to the two separate characters, "oe." Also, the macron, which appeared over the "o" in the Greek transliteration of "struthion'" was dropped.
Changed "silver penciled" to "silver-penciled" on page 28: "partridge, silver-penciled, and ermine."
Changed "out-crosses" to "outcrosses" on page 30: "outcrosses are regularly made."
Changed "Siver-Penciled" to "Silver-Penciled" in the caption to figure 51.
Changed "Amercia" to "America" on page 63: "fowls of America."
Changed "thay" to "they" on page 169: "which they may use."
Changed "distroyed" to "destroyed" on page 200: "are destroyed by cultivating."
Changed "servicable" to "serviceable" on page 226: "more serviceable in this way."