FOE SITTERS IN" MILD CLIMATES. 87 



verse section of B, Fig. 28. When the gate is open, 

 this board is at the position shown by the dotted lines in 

 Fig. 28, and the feed dropping from the shelf, S, 

 will land at A, but when the gate is closed this board, 

 being in another position under the feed shelf, intercepts 

 the falling grain, causing it to reach the ground at D, 

 in the big yard instead of in the small one. 



Now, as heretofore mentioned, the layers of the sit- 

 ting breed and the sitters actually sitting, occupy the 

 same building. The layers are allowed the freedom of 

 one large yard, Y, and two small yards, y, during the 

 day, the four gates, 6r, being kept open all the time, 

 excepting during the latter part of the afternoon. Wire 

 netting is stretched so as to prevent the birds from get- 

 ting at the feed shelf. The latter being only two and 

 one-half feet from the ground, it is conveniently reached 

 by the attendant, who passes the whole length of the 

 covered yard each day to load the shelf. At intervals, 

 during the day, whenever he is in either room, m, he 

 operates the shelves at all four of the small yards for the 

 exercise of the layers. The running they actually do 

 while he is controlling their movements is only a small 

 part of the scheme. The habit of expectation being 

 formed, they will run back and forth hundreds of times 

 every day and visit the small yards, whether the shelves 

 are operated or not. The feed shelves in the main 

 building are operated by hand hammers only and at 

 either end indifferently, but those in the small yards are 

 operated by pivoted hammers, cords, pulleys and wires 

 (as described elsewhere) when you are at the end of the 

 main building the farthest away, and by hand hammers 

 when you are near. In the ground plan, Fig. 27, the 

 straight dotted lines show the location of the six shelves. 

 One of the shelves in the long building is shown sus- 

 pended by wires or cords at J, Fig. 29. This shelf 

 being, as we have said, operated by hand hammers at 



