HOW TO DETERMINE THE SEX OF A BIRD. 



33 



In the female, in the brescling-season, on the left side of the body, 

 in a position corresponding to that of the testes of the male, there 

 will be found a large yellowish mass, made np of eggs of various 

 sizes, from tiny granules to a full-sized yolk (fig, 5, ovy.). Earlier in 

 the year the mass is granular only, and of course much smaller, 



- - C^k/if/ 



r^r^r/. 



Fig. 4.— a portion of the body-cavity of a 

 bird exposed to show the position of the 

 male sexual organs, s.r. snprarenals, or 

 adrenals ; t. testes ; k. kidney ; vd. vas 

 deferens, or sperm-duct ; int. intestine. 



Fig. 5.— a portion of the body-cavity of a 

 bird exposed to show the position of the 

 female sexual organs. Iq. lung ; k. kidney ; 

 onj. ovary ; ov.d. oviduct. 



sometimes extremely small. If the ovary has been destroyed by shot, 

 or is, as often happens, but slightly developed, look carefully on the 

 left side of the body for a long and more or less coiled tube (the 

 oviduct), one end of which— that towards the head — is free, the other 

 joined on to the intestine, quite close to where it leaves the body 

 (fig. 5, ovd,). A vestige of a similar small tube ^vill be found in the 



