SOME OPEN SECRETS 131 
made well up in the web, but not far enough to in- 
jure the bones. By making the holes between dif- 
ferent toes and punching both feet it is possible to 
make a large number of combinations. It follows, 
of course, that a record of these marks must be kept, 
or the work will go for nothing. Leg bands are 
often used for marking poultry; they are adjustable 
to legs of varying sizes and cost but fifteen cents a 
dozen or seventy-five cents for a hundred. Each 
band is numbered and a record of the numbers must 
be kept. 
When a broody hen deserts her nest, as a broody 
hen sometimes will, the amateur should not become 
needlessly alarmed. If the weather is not exceed- 
ingly cold or the hen off for several hours before her 
defection is discovered, the chances are that the 
eggs will hatch, although the chicks may be a day or 
two later in coming out. There usually is even 
time to go to a neighbor’s home to borrow a sit- 
ting hen if there is not an extra one at hand. The 
new hen’s head should be covered when she is be- 
ing moved to meet such an emergency and the nest 
should be made dark when she is put on the 
eggs. 
If a hen deserts a nest, her action is likely to be 
