2^0 Pheasant Rearing Under " Broodies V 



more unhatched eggs in the nests of wild birds found round 

 here than I can ever remember finding before. 



To mention a few instances : An early nest of a Thrush 

 contained 3 unhatched eggs, and one bird almost ready to 

 leave the nest. Found Hedgesparrows" nest with 2 unhatched 

 eggs, both addled. 



Redstarts i infertile out of five left (ist clutch), and 

 1 our of four (second clutch), and later deserted young for no 

 apparent reasor. when about i 2 days old. 



Several other nests of various species contained one or 

 two addled or infertile eggs, in fact it was quite the excep- 

 tion to find any nest with a full clutch safely hatched. 



To quote one more instance, my Black Tanager in her 

 last clutch had one infertile eg^ and one with chick dead in 

 shell out of the usual complement of 3 eggs. 



The first eggs out of five or six clutches, which ha\-e 

 even failed toi hatch, though the fact that she is this season 

 mated with one of last season's young may have something 

 to do with the matter in her case. 



Possibly this wretchedly cold summer may have im- 

 paired the vitality of the feathered tribes and thus have 

 made them Imore prone to lay eggs either infertile or contain- 

 ing weakly germs. 



No doubt, however, as far as my " sittings " were 

 concerned, other causes, some of which I attribute to the 

 following circumstances, contributed to my signal lack of 

 success. 



PROBABLE CAUSES OF FAILURE. 



First and foremost I attribute the enormous percent- 

 age of chicks dead in shell to the fact that I originally com- 

 menced operations inl a stable, which was much too stuffy 

 and dry and had, as in most stables, a cobbled floor. 



For the young chicks being crushed on emerging I 

 was at first a good deal to blame, because instead of. moving 

 the broody to a coop the; day " before " the hatch was due, 

 I moved her Ithe iday "after.*' One or two chicks were lost 



