48 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



venient receptacle in which he carried everything that he 

 found in the woods from strawberries to mud turtles, and 

 trudged home with his treasures, determined to set them 

 under his old duck-legged hen, that wonderful mother- 

 chicken of his which had grown so old that she seldom laid 

 more than a few eggs in a clutch, and could always be 

 pursuaded to sit by merely placing her in a barrel with 

 a nest full of eggs and covering her up for a day or two. 

 This hen had not only incubated but cared for birds and 

 fowls of every description for the boy, from barred owls and 

 red-tailed hawks to quails, guineas and peacocks. It 

 would not be a hard matter to induce her to become foster 

 mother to a flock of mallard ducks. In fact, it was doubt- 

 ful whether this mother hen would ever know that her 

 wards differed from the domestic ducks that she was 

 accustomed to care for every summer. 



On reaching home, the eggs were put in a large dish 

 in the cupboard with the expectation they would be set in 

 the morning. The family cooking was done in a wood stove 

 that stood not more than three or four feet from this cup- 

 board, and of course the air in the cupboard was warm as 

 a result of getting the evening meal. When the doors were 

 closed for the night, this air would remain warm until 

 morning. 



Next morning, when breakfast was about ready, the good 

 mother as usual called the boy to help by setting the table. 

 Opening the cupboard to get the dishes, what was his sur- 

 prize to find not his duck eggs, but twelve fluffy, little 

 ducklings. All had hatched over night. No matter, mother 

 hen could be induced to take care of almost any kind of 

 orphan, whether she were sitting or not; so she was placed 

 in a coop with these ducklings and given a dish of water 



