HATCHING THE EGGS. 121 



outlet is running right, the inlet must be also, of neces- 

 sity. If anything is wrong in the flow of the hatch- 

 ing streams, follow them up from the outlet till you 

 discover the cause, and, when you have, remove it, 

 and also, if practicable, the possibility of its occurring 

 again. If the streams are running right, next ex- 

 amine the filters. If they are clogged up or too dirty 

 for safety, take them out, change and clean them, 

 according to directions given under the head of Filters.* 

 Remove them carefully when they are taken from the 

 tank, so as not to shake the dirt off the flannel into 

 the water, and try to keep the rear one clean enough 

 not to require changing at all ; for when you remove 

 that one, the sediment in front of it has free access to 

 the gravel, and some of it may get through to the eggs. 

 The eggs claim your attention next ; you proceed to 

 them with feather and nippers. The feather you need 

 to move the eggs with ; the nippers you require to 

 pick out the dead- ones. A feather from a turkey's 

 tail I like best for feathers. For nippers take a piece 

 of flat steel spring, about ten inches long and not over 

 an eighth of an inch in width ; bend it exactly in the 

 middle, spread the ends by hajnmering, and you have 

 as good an instrument, I believe, as there is for pick- 

 ing out eggs. Other things are used, as, for instance, 

 the bulb syringe, and a miniature spoon made of a 

 concave coil of fine wire fastened into a wooden 

 handle. These have the advantage over nippers for 

 picking out live eggs, that they do not hurt the eggs ; 



* The tanks should be drawn off and thorouglily washed out, 

 whenever much sediment begins to collect in them, 

 6 



