Because an of being loved or admired. animal is homely, we must not be unjust and ridicule the very same thing in its habits, which, on account of difference of its form and plumage, charm us in another." Caroline. "You will always deserve the name of Just, cousin." Augustus. "My little cousin, you must deserve it too. You will thus gain real enjoyment. Good knowledge and correct judgment gain for us the esteem and honour of the good. But to return to the turkeys-unfortunately, I cannot tell you any thing of them, like the feelings of affection, or the intelligence which are displayed by the two Dickys. The turkey is a stupid, choleric animal, that seems swollen up with pride, at least, if we can judge from his strutting about as he does. The wild turkey, when pursued by the hunter's dogs, is an easy prey. At first, he runs away very swiftly, and goes to perch himself upon a tree. Once there, he does not think of stirring, and the hunter, who stations himself at the foot of the tree, can knock down a whole flock of them, without a single one trying to fly away. When they are tamed, they do not seem any more intelligent, except when the turkey wishes to set, and then she knows much better than the common hen how to secure her eggs from the double danger of being broken by her spouse, (who likes not a numerous family about him,) or by the farmer's incautious hand." Caroline. "Why, do turkeys break their eggs?" Aunt. "Yes, they sometimes even eat them. I used to have Canary birds who would do the same thing, to the great distress of the mother bird, and it was a subject of continual quarrels in the little cage. Augustus. "There is another curious thing about the turkey. The common hen comes off once a day, to take her single meal in haste, but the turkey-hen, in a tame state, would die with hunger, if we did not take care to put food near enough for her to eat it without leaving her nest." Caroline. "How can any one find out where her nest is if they hide their eggs so well?" Aunt. "The girl who takes care of the poultry yard must always look out beforehand, and prepare a nest in some out-of-the-way place. Their instinct will enable them to find it, if the place has been well chosen according to their taste, and you may be certain they will lay their eggs nowhere else. And when the young turkeys are hatched, it is quite worth while to see the motherly care of the turkey! If you had much acquaintance with the poultry yard, you would recognise, at first sight, without even seeing the chickens, or little turkeys, the particular hen and the turkey that have a brood. Their feathers are bristled, their wings hang down, and their voice is hoarse. They neglect and tire themselves in watching their young, to preserve them from danger." Caroline. "Aunt, will you let me see the turkey's eggs? Are they like the hen's eggs?" Aunt. "Most of them are white, and speckled with yellowish red." Augustus. "If my little cousin will come and pass some time with us next year, she will learn how to distinguish between the different kinds of eggs, after having learned this year to know the different species of animals in the poultry yard." Caroline. "Aunt has already let me see ducks' eggs. They are reddish." Aunt. "We have also a very large kind of hen, that has eggs of a yellowish red colour." Caroline. "How then do you distinguish those of the ducks?" Augustus. "The form, as well as the colour and size of the egg, prevents our confounding those of one bird with those of another." Caroline. "But I have had Canary birds' eggs, some gray, some nearly white, and others greenish." Augustus. "We generally observe a resemblance between the plumage of the bird and the colour of its eggs. Now, as all Canary birds are not yellow, but some have a mixture of green, you can easily imagine, with a little attention |