Say thou pour’st them Wheat,
And they would Acorns eat;
’Twere simple fury in thee still to wast
Thy self, on them that have no tast;
No, give them draff their fill,
Husks, Grains and swill;
They that love Lees and leave the lustie Wine,
Envy them not, their palats with the Swine.
The Raven is here numerous and Crowes, but Rooks, Danes, Popinjaes, Megpies there be none. It is observed that the female of all Birds of prey and Ravin is ever bigger than the male, more venturous, hardy, and watchful: but such Birds as do not live by prey and Ravin, the male is more large than the female. So much for Birds of prey, the next are Birds for the dish, and the first of these is,
[p. 99.] The Turkie, which is in New-England a very large Bird, they breed twice or thrice in a year, if you would preserve the young Chickens alive, you must give them no water, for if they come to have their fill of water they will drop away strangely, and you will never be able to rear any of them: they are excellent meat, especially a Turkie-Capon beyond that, for which Eight shillings was given, their Eggs are very wholesome and restore decayed nature exceedingly. But the French say they breed the Leprosie; the Indesses make Coats of Turkie-feathers woven for their Children.