150 HABITS OF BIRDS. 



cares ; he attempted to open her bill, in order to 

 give her nourishment; his emotion every instant 

 increased ; he went to her, and returned with the 

 most agitated air and with the utmost inquietude ; 

 at intervals he uttered the most plaintive cries ; at 

 other times, with his eyes fixed upon her, he pre- 

 served a sorrowful silence. His faithful companion 

 at length expired : he languished from that time, and 

 survived her only a few months."* 



CHAPTER XIII. 



HATCHING AND SHELTERING OF THE YOUNG. 



IT is indispensable to hatching, that an equable 

 temperature be kept up of about 96 degrees Fahr. 

 or 32 degrees Reaum., for at lower temperatures 

 the living principle appears to become torpid, and 

 unable to assimilate the nourishment provided for 

 developing the embryo. Proceeding upon this 

 principle, the Egyptians, as well as those who have 

 tried the experiment in Europe, have succeeded, by 

 means of artificial heat, in hatching eggs without 

 any aid from the mother birds. 



According to the best descriptions of the Egyp- 

 tian mamal, or hatching oven, it is a brick structure 

 about nine feet high. The middle is .formed into a 

 gallery about three feet wide and eight feet high, 

 extending from one end of the building to the other. 

 This gallery forms the entrance to the oven, and 

 commands its whole extent, facilitating the various 

 operations indispensable for keeping the eggs at 

 the proper degree of warmth. On each side of this 

 gallery there is a double row of rooms, every room 



* Bingley, Anim. Biog., ii., 224. 



