122 OSTRICH-FARMING IN SOUFH AFRICA. 



having two or more machines working with lamps in a 

 tiny room. 



The proportion of eggs that are not fertile is much 

 smaller than is generally supposed ; as a rule, when the 

 birds pair and lay in a nest, they may be taken to be 

 all fertile ; but hens, especially young ones, will often 

 lay a number of eggs about the veldt before any cock 

 has paired them. 



Even with the most perfect incubator and with 

 every attention, occasionally a batch of eggs will come 

 out badly, the chicks being gluey and often deformed ; 

 many people fancy that the thunder affects them, but 

 this we do not believe — we believe that the fault is in 

 the eggs themselves, which if left to nature would 

 have failed to incubate at all, or have died in the early 

 stages ; but with the more perfect provision of heat in 

 the incubator they are brought to maturity. 



