The Dickinson press., 1905-10-14
TILE WAYS OF A HEN,
THEY ARE MORE STUDY
THAN THEY RECEIVE.

some OF the Peculiarities of This DO
nestle Fowl, Which II ats5sOneSS
About Tie Nyisest ana MostYFosEishs
Alilnsl TThst Ives. s;, 81.
Half wild, With he ancestralshabitj
Of the jungle fowl about her andsthes
wariness M fear apparent ins.evey
energetic act, and still. half stamed,s
with the a~senseless confidence Of ig-.
norance In. evidence and showing plain
u IN many actA the domestic hen Isl
worthy q .l more study than she re-
d s... n .qs '
Poultry fanciers by long practicescan
predictfalmost to afeather the creature.
thatawilI result from any given cross
Observation-Disclosures varieties and can
foresee how many eggs new breeds
from crosses will lay. In asyear,s and so,
mark out the course OF the unborn on
from mixed mating that. we
but little to discover from OBJ
But the color and character
Of the, plumage, the amount. OF egg pro
duction and the weight and edibility OF
the new generation r not. all. there lis
a$ota. hen. 3 I. -4:sss(
1.-The domestic fowl may not have q
soul, but she has both a gizzard andSa
crop, which shows she has the advan-
tage, Of the human a Surely, she
does not reason, else she would not act
as she does, but she holds certain mem
tai attributes which serve better than
any reasoning power could hope. to. do.
and thus gains her ends without going
the trouble Of thinking.
stake two dippers and place In one
Two quarts of yellow flint corn, such
pN is: grown in Maine, and put sin> the
:oarerii two quarts Of gold dollars. such
as; are still minted In San Francisco.
Now empty both dishes among the
gravel: OF the henyardi and mote how.
the. poultry WIN pick up and swallow
the corn, leaving the gold to lie out: and
mingle wlthss.the common earth.
To an minimizing observer a. gold dol.
lar. bears a fair1y close resemblance TO-,
askernel Of yellow flint corn. Both are
reddish ,:yeNlpw;s both are nearly of
equal size. aNoss human senses both. are
hard and sodorless; and, until broken:
open, :tasteless. BY what organ Of
sense does the hen distinguish the dol.
lar from the kernel? r From the human
stanqppintraof the senses Of taste and;
smell youicannot tell one from the 9TH.
ter. The extra weight of the gold coin Is
not the reason why It is discarded, be-
cause q hen win pick up oats as well,
as CORR though one holds thirty-two
and the other hfty-slx pounds to the
even bushel.
liz the contents Of thestwo measures
had been spread, out In front OF men
kthe choice would; not have been made
according to hen conclusions, for the
reason that men have learnedshow gold
dollars are constructed. But. IL, a. hen
had, never seen a kernel of corn or. 9
iEg8ftd dollar 7btefore during her existence
she wouldahav chosen the corn Just as
quickly Why,was she led to make the
Among the most interesting features
Einiraising poultry dis to note the rever-
[ssfon'ta ancestral. typestwhich crops out
inYsths5SIyy6uing. The custodian. Of, the
cobpdg9slpay walk about the premises
foradaNaEEsi; and weeks without creating
anyss,aosApuanongs the hens, but let q
stranger come along, and the cutlery
Of da1ger issmade forthwith. This In
herited dread Of q foecrops out to 8
marked degree I In ',at the ygootnng. +; g ben ben
steHlssSsther:- nest dessineeutltbates her
yoHhhgg5aand brings them to the door to
be .Ielsevery chick inSthe lot will sscoot
awayEand hide as soon as q human
being appears. onsthe cene.
Among game fowl and the smaller
breeds this fear continues for weeks,
though It nearly disappears when the
chicks become adults. The family dog
may loaf about the yard for weeks and
never raise a squawk Of protest, but
!, let q new dog approach the premises,
and the ontcries Of the poultry may
be heard from afar. A. skunk will
drive the poultry into Mysteries, though
q black and white striped cat that be.
longs on the place can sun itself in the
runways for hours and never be wax.
ened by poultry outcries.
At what age and by what manner do
chickens learn to distinguish their
friends? Having been made able to
understand that the man who has
charge Of them is their protector, why
do they not extend this confidence to
all human beings?
Hens are at ono the wisest and
most foolish animals that live.
II asdog receives punishment a few
times for visiting a certain spot, II
will acquire wisdom from contact with
the switch and will either shun the for.
biddm place entirely or will wait until
the human dealer in vengeance has
gone away. But no form Of punish.
ihient invented by man q wean q
then from Invading a garden and
scratching among the plants. If we gu.
perior human beings could fathom the
mind Of the hnmblest hen and could
learn all there Is to know as to her
mental processes we might write q
book that would astonish the world
land Guido Darwin In probing for the
ESecrets Of life.-Bangor News.
IET EaNh