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Show 236 MR. J. T. CUNNINGHAM ON [Mar. 17, Cock A. Longest feather 13 inches from skin. Cock B. The same. But there were move long feathers in Cock A, the outer ones being more nearly the length of the middle. As I found I had not time to pay attention to more than two cocks, and as, moreover, they soon began to fight, I got rid of Cocks C and D ; and what I have to say hereafter refers only to Cocks A and B, which were undoubtedly the best of the four, and had the most beautiful colours. I began tying these two cocks on ordinary perches in the daytime by means of a piece of tape tied to one leg and round the perch. Dec. ls£. Age 5 months 18 clays.-Longest feather in Cock A 18 inches, in Cock B the same. This shows a growth of 5 inches in five weeks, or 1 inch per week. Perhaps the feather in Cock A was really a little longer, as nearly all the feathers in this bird had lost their tips by friction against the ground. There is thus no evidence up to this time that pulling the feathers in Cock B has increased the rate of growth. Dec. 8th.-I had been stroking the feathers of Cock B regularly at morning and evening. Usually I tied the birds on the perches at night, and generally tied the feathers up in paper when the birds were free. I used tissue-paper, and rolled the tail up transversely, fastening it with tape. I tried a rough narrow cage with wooden bars for Cock B, but the bird turned round and escaped through the opening behind the perch. I noticed now that one of the long feathers in Cock B seemed to have stopped growing, the sheath having peeled oft' and left a dry stalk. This was one of the outer tail-coverts, but the rest were still growing vigorously. Dec. 27th.-As my first attempt at a cage did not succeed, and I was unwilling to confine the birds so completely as the Japanese do, I made a perch of about 9 inches in length supported on two uprights. This apparatus was movable, not fixed to the ground. I used this for Cock B, tying him to it by a piece of tape fastened round one leg. This answered very well, although he once upset the perch and slightly wounded his head. No permanent injury resulted from this accident. On this date, when I was stroking the feathers, one of the smaller tail-coverts on the right side came out of the socket, with the epidermic sheath attached to it. This feather was 14 inches long. This seemed to indicate that the effect of stroking the feathers was, as suggested by a correspondent of 4 Nature,' to pull the growing feathers out, instead of increasing their growth ; but my experiments were not finished yet. Dec. 31s£. Age 6 months 18 clays.-Measured the feathers as accurately as possible on a flat wooden measure. Cock A longest two feathers, the central feathers of the tail, 22 inches. Cock B longest feather scarcely 22 inches, also a central rectrix. |
