. The natural history of the farm; a guide to the practical study of the sources of our living in wild nature. Natural history. THE FOWLS OP THE FARM 117. Fig. 56. Carolina,) The sora rail {Porzana grouse, are sounds unmatched in nature and inimitable; so also are the antics that accompany their utterance. The day of abundance of wild fowl ia this country is forever past. The most that may be hoped for by the bird-lover is that a few may be saved here and there, wherever fit homes for them remain. The pigeon is gone; the turkey is a captive; but let us hope that a few wild ^_^— ,„ ,, „,|j plac
. The natural history of the farm; a guide to the practical study of the sources of our living in wild nature. Natural history. THE FOWLS OP THE FARM 117. Fig. 56. Carolina,) The sora rail {Porzana grouse, are sounds unmatched in nature and inimitable; so also are the antics that accompany their utterance. The day of abundance of wild fowl ia this country is forever past. The most that may be hoped for by the bird-lover is that a few may be saved here and there, wherever fit homes for them remain. The pigeon is gone; the turkey is a captive; but let us hope that a few wild ^_^— ,„ ,, „,|j places wUl be preserved where f vC-==i-''/i^^^il _ those who come after us may hear the caU of the bob-white and the grouse in our vales: let us hope they may be uplifted with the sight of some of oiu: fine wild waterfowl, traversing the eqtiinoctial skies. Our ancestors brought with them to America fowls that had been domesticated in earlier times and in far distant lands: chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, guineafowl, pea- fowl, etc. These, doubtless, came into domestication largely by way of the barnyard. Are they not called barnyard fowl, and so distinguished from wild fowl? They may have lingered about the stalls of the cattle and horses in primeval times to find the grain wasted by these animals, and to feed upon it. It is a noteworthy fact that of all birds, the ones most useful to us are those that are best equipped by nattire for working-over the barnyard litter and sectuing the grain left in it; the gallinaceous birds by scratching with their feet; the waterfowl by dabbling with their beaks. They consumed what would otherwise have been wasted, and turned it into a reserve meat supply; so they were encoiu-aged to remain. With growing familiarity they made their nests in the hay-. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky
