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Rural School Leaflet 







THE HEN 

 Anna Botsford Comstock 



NOWLEDGE of our domestic fowl leads us 

 to believe it is descended from the jungle 

 fowl of Asia, which, although a ground 

 bird, has a powerful flight. Ages of disuse 

 of its wings, however, have robbed our 

 barnyard fowl, to a great extent, of the ability 

 to fly; moreover, the hen has been bred for 

 food until she has attained too great weight 

 to be carried by her wings. 

 It is the hen's nature to scratch for a living. For 

 this purpose her legs are strong and protected by 

 horny scales, and her flexible toes are armed with 

 horny claws. Her beak is also strong and horny, 

 so that she is able to extract from the earth the in- 

 sect or seed there hidden. She does not need teeth, 

 since she swallows her food whole and it is ground fine in her gizzard. 

 The hen also uses her beak as a weapon of offense and defense. 



The hen can run rapidly. The track she makes shows four toes, one 

 projecting backward and three forward. The long hind toe enables her 

 to retain her hold on the perch when she sleeps ; the bending of her legs as 

 she settles down on the perch flexes her toes inward and downward, and 

 thus they grasp the perch mechanically while she rests. 



The hen's nostrils are two small holes near the base of the beak. She 

 probably has not a keen sense of smell. Her hearing, however, like that 

 of all birds, is very acute. The ears in some varieties of fowl are mere 

 openings in the head, more or less covered with feathers, though some 

 breeds have ear lobes which seem to be more ornamental than useful. The 

 hen can see well. She is able to make her eyes far-sighted or near-sighted 

 at will, to serve her when scratching for seeds at her feet or when watch- 

 ing for hawks in the sky. Her eyes are at the sides of the head, and she 

 has a habit of reinforcing the judgment of one eye by bringing the other 

 to bear on any object in view. The iris is usually yellow, the pupil black 

 and round. When she winks, it is the lower lid that covers the eye; and 

 when she is dozing a thin film-lid slips over the eye from its inner corner. 

 Birds are the only creatures clothed in feathers, a covering superior 

 to hair and fur, since it gives them the power of flight. The feathers on 

 different parts of the fowl differ much in size and fonn. The feathers 



