Breeding and Management. 81 



The scissors used for this purpose must be very sharp. 

 Placing a little may-shell, or even a knob of loaf sugar 

 occasionally in the wires of the cage for the birds to peck at 

 will prevent any overgrowth in this direction. 



UNFRUITFUL EGGS. This untoward event sometimes pro- 

 ceeds from totally different causes. It may happen through 

 a male bird having lost a hind claw, or even through his 

 having sore and tender feet, bnt not frequently so. It is 

 usually caused through one or other of the birds not being 

 in robust and vigorous health, frequently from ailments con- 

 tracted during the process of moulting. Thus it will occasionally 

 be found that a bird is prolific one year and have no produce 

 the next; this almost invariably results from a bad or very 

 late moult. But as I purpose to treat more fully on this 

 subject under the head of "Moulting," I will not notice it 

 further at present. 



BARREN HENS. I have known instances of young hens 

 failing to breed the first year, but amply rewarding their 

 owners the following season. This, however, is a very rare 

 occurrence. There are other hens which are permanently 

 barren. This results chiefly from old age, although an 

 unsatisfactory moult will sometimes produce it. These hens 

 go to nest with all the regularity of a prolific hen, and gene- 

 rally make excellent foster-mothers, sitting eggs and rearing 

 young birds with great care, attention, and regularity, and 

 they are sometimes found valuable to an extensive breeder. 



SINGING- HENS. I have known hens, though not many, com- 

 mence to sing like cocks, and with such gusto and vehemence 

 that no one but a thoroughly practical and experienced fan- 

 cier could possibly discover the sexes by their song. These 

 hens, when put up to breed, almost invariably proceed to 

 destroy their eggs or progeny, and are known among fanciers 

 as "unnatural mothers." My advice to breeders is never to 

 try them. I remember a friend who once had a hen of this 

 description for a great number of years, but I never could 

 persuade him that it was a hen until one day it laid an egg 







