Miscellaneous. \ 95 



ground; this will in a very great measure assist in obviating the 

 baneful effects which must inevitably result in cases where 

 birds are exposed for any length of time to its blighting influ- 

 ences. In the morning the cage can be drawn up. This con- 

 trivance is so simple that a child might easily manage it, but 

 the bird must not be neglected or forgotten, especially if cats 

 are kept on the premises. 



To KNOW WHETHER EGGS ARE FERTILE. To ascertain 

 whether eggs are fertile or not, hold them up before a window 

 when the sun is shining strongly. If they are fruitful, and 

 have been sat upon eight days or more, they will be quite 

 opaque, vulgarly termed " black sitting." You can sometimes 

 ascertain the fact at the end of six days, but there is no certainty 

 before the end of the eighth day. If the eggs merely look 

 muddy, and are not quite black, they are what are known as 

 dazed or spoiled eggs. It is a bad practice to molest hens 

 during incubation, as all hens ought to sit their allotted time, 

 thirteen or fourteen days, according to the temperature of the 

 atmosphere. If the eggs are all right they will assuredly be 

 hatched, if not you cannot improve them by looking at them, 

 and I should like to know how many fruitful eggs have been 

 destroyed by this means some through being let fall, and 

 others by being indented with the finger nails. Never handle 

 a bird's egg when your finger nails are too long. 



IMPREGNATING EGGS. I have very frequently been asked 

 my opinion whether I considered it necessary for a male bird 

 to remain with a female after they had been observed to pair 

 properly, and if they were then separated whether any or the 

 whole of the eggs would prove fruitful. I have heard a great 

 many arguments upon this subject both pro and con, and for 

 my part I prefer not to offer an opinion thereon. I may, how- 

 ever, cite two cases which bear on the subject both ways, and I 

 will vouch for their authenticity. A friend of mine, a great 

 mule breeder, and a gentleman on whose statement I can con- 

 fidently rely, related to me that he once sent a canary hen, in 

 full season, to a friend's house, who had a breeding goldfinch, 

 to get the hen impregnated. He sent her by one of his men- 



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