never become of great utility, except to cross with the common or the game fowl, to the farmer."

The Dominique, or Dominica Fowl.-This is the name of a beautiful variety, very common, at present, in the New-York markets, and is highly esteemed for its laying and breeding qualities, as well as for the excellent flavor of its flesh and eggs. Both the males and the females are of a medium size, rather longbodied, having yellow legs and feet, single or double combs, and with or without copplecrowns. Their general plumage is of a light-grey color, each feather barred crosswise by bands of a darker shade, which gives them a beautiful pheasant-like appearance, as they are paraded in the farmyard, or confined in a crate. The hackles on the necks and backs of the cocks are often variegated with gold yellow, or reddish-brown.

The Blue Dun Fowl.-This breed, at present in vogue in Dorsetshire, England, is under the average size, and rather slenderly made, of a soft and pleasing bluish-dun color, the neck being darker, with high, single, deeply-serrated combs. The cock is of the same color as the hen, but has in addition some handsome dark stripes in the long feathers of the tail, and sometimes a few golden, and even scarlet marks on the wings, which, by the contrast, give the bird a very exotic look.

The blue duns are represented as exceedingly familiar, impudent, and pugnacious; so much so, that it is suspected, also from their shape, they have a dash of game blood in their veins.

The hens are good layers, wanting to sit after producing a moderate number of eggs, and proving attentive and careful rearers of their own chickens, but rather savage to those of other hens. The eggs are small and short, tapering slightly at one end, and are perfectly white.

The hackles of the cock are always in great request, in England, for making artificial flies for fishing. If kept perfectly unmixed with any other fowl, one

will seldom obtain more than half the number of the proper "blue duns," the rest being either black or white. The chickens on the latter color, however, are afterwards sprinkled with dun feathers. Perhaps the original sort may have been either black or white, as it is known that animals will, after many cross-breedings, "cry back."

ANOMALOUS FOWLS.

ANOMALIES have been called "finger points that point the way to unsuspected truths." Hence the strange irregularities which we often meet with in our domestic fowls better deserve the attention of naturalists than any favor of poultry keepers. They may safely be pronounced worthless as a stock, and have a more appropriate place in the menagerie or museum than in the poultry yard or lawn. Just as well might the farmer propagate "Manx cats," well known for the peculiarity of having no tails, the "woolly horses," (caballos chinos,) of Mexico, or the "wingless birds" of New Zealand, as "frizzled," "rumpless," or "negro" fowls.

Among the monstrosities of the domestic fowl, which are particularly curious, and worthy of the attention of the student of nature, may be mentioned the "rumkin," or tailless cock, (Gallus ecaudatus,) believed at present to be found wild in the island of Ceylon; and the "silky" and "negro" fowls, with white silky plumage, and with skin, combs, and bones which are black.

RANGE AND DOMESTIC ACCOMODATION OF FOWLS.

WHATEVER number or breed of fowls one may have selected for keeping, provision must be made for their comfort and safety. Those attached to houses in the country, lead, in many respects, a happy life. They have good air and plenty of room, and generally with no lack of food. They wander about the farmyard, the orchard, and the lawn, visit the adjacent gardens

and fields, travel over the pastures, through the highways or lanes, troop around the barn, and enjoy total freedom. To the advantage of pure air, they usually have that of pure water, and the opportunity of vary-. ing their diet by picking up insects and their larvæ; and a store of pebbles, gravel, old mortar, and other calcareous matter, which they require, is always at their command. So far, they lead a comfortable and natural life; but how are they housed at night? In many instances, in a proper and well-built poultry house, with perches judiciously arranged, with boxes lined with straw for the laying and sitting hens; but often in places utterly unfitted for them. For instance, numerous flocks of hens will be lodged under the roof of some large, open shed, above the cattle, wagons, or carts, which receive an abundance of their droppings; others take shelter in the barns, stables, cider mill, pig pen, out-houses, &c., while not a few may be found roosting on the branches of some favorite tree. want of order cannot be too strongly condemned, as hens, having no proper laying places, select such situations as chance may offer them, not unfrequently in obscure places of concealment, so that their eggs are devoured by vermin or are lost.

This

Those who intend to rear fowls, should have a distinct yard, with a warm aspect, well fenced, secure from vermin and thieves, sufficiently inclined to be always dry, and supplied with gravel, old mortar, (not quick lime,) or chalk, soot, brick dust, and with sand or ashes for the fowls to bask or roll in. If possible, a stream of running water should pass through the yard; but if this cannot be done, a trough filled with fresh water every morning may be substituted. A want of water, of which all kinds of poultry are fond, produces constipation of the bowels and inflammatory diseases. A contiguous field or pasture, however, whenever it can be had, would, in all cases, he preferred.

A fowl house should be dry, well roofed, and fronting the east or south; and if practicable, in a cold climate, it should be provided with a stove, or some other means

for heating, warmth being very conducive to health and laying, though extreme heat has the contrary effect. The dormitory, or roost, should be well ventilated by means of two lattice windows, at opposite ends of the building; and it would be desirable to have one or more apertures through the roof for the escape of foul air. The sitting apartment, also, should be well ventilated by means of a large lattice window, in the side of the house, and holes through the ceiling or roof. If kept moderately dark, it will contribute to the quietude of the hens, and thus favor the process of incubation. The sitting room should be provided with boxes or troughs, well supplied with fresh water and proper food for the hens, during the hatching period, from which they can partake at all times, at will. The laying room, in winter, should have similar boxes or troughs, containing old mortar, broken oyster shells, soot, brick dust, gravel, and ashes, as well as a liberal supply of proper drink and food. The perches, or roosting poles, should be so arranged that one row of fowls should not rest directly above another. They should be so constructed as to enable the fowls to ascend and descend by means of ladders, or steps, without making much use of their wings; for, heavy fowls fly up to their roosts with difficulty, and often injure themselves by descending, as they alight heavily upon the ground.

The following cut represents a hen house, in perspective, 20 feet long, 12 feet wide, 7 feet high to the eaves, with a roof having a 7-foot pitch, a chimney top, a ventilator on the peak, twelve feet in length and one foot or more in height, and openings in the gable ends for the admission of fresh air. In the easterly end, there are two doors, one leading into the laying apartment and loft, and the other into the hatching room. In the same end there is also a wooden shutter, or blind, which may be opened, whenever necessary, to let air or light into the roost. In the back, or northerly -side, there is a large lattice window, three feet above the floor or ground, 4 by 12 feet, for the purpose of affording fresh air to the sitting hens. In the front, or

southerly side, there is a large glazed window, 4 by 12 feet, and another in the southerly side of the roof, of a corresponding size, designed to admit the light and heat of the sun, in cold weather, to stimulate the laying hens. In the southerly side, there are also two small apertures three feet above the floor or ground, for the ingress and egress of the fowls. These openings may be provided with sliding shutters, as well as with "lighting boards," inside and out, and may be guarded by

PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF A HEN HOUSE.

sheets of tin, nailed on below them, to prevent the intrusion of rats, weasels, or skunks.

The building may be constructed of wood or other materials, and in such style, or order of architecture, as may suit one's taste, only preserving the internal arrangements and proportions, in reference to breadth and height. As a general rule, as regards the length of the building, each hen, irrespective of the cocks, may be allowed a foot.