ATTENTIONS OF THE MALE. 231 



" In the month of August," writes Mr. Ord, 

 " one of ray domestic hens, after having been 

 sitting about two weeks, forsook her nest. I 

 perceived that she was afflicted with disease, and, on 

 examining her, I found her cold and dying. She 

 had been absent from the eggs for the principal 

 part of the day, and as they did not exhibit the 

 least external signs of heat I broke one, and found 

 the embryo extremely feeble, so much so that 

 scarcely any signs of life were visible; the re- 

 mainder were removed to two sitting hens, and 

 they all produced healthy chicks. One of my 

 neighbours told me that he had known a sitting 

 hen to be absent from the nest for a day and a 

 night, and still the eggs hatched." 



During the period that the female bird is a pri- 

 soner to her nest, the male pays her the closest 

 attention, in a number of instances ;, perching on 

 a sprig close by, he will pour out such a succession 

 of sweet notes from his little throat, that if his 

 partner can be charmed with music, and if thus 

 the weary hours of incubation may be wiled away, 

 she has little to wish for in that respect. Some 

 naturalists account, indeed, for the song of birds 

 by this supposition, that it is intended for the 



