454 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



left to hatch out their own eggs, and did remarkably well. 

 The results are shown in the following table : 



Grouse Hens. No. of Eggs. No. of Chickens. 



No. 1 7 7 



,,2 11 9 



,,3 9 7 



,,4 7 6 



5 12 11 



P , , /Put under a foster-mother 



\ who ate all the eggs. 

 f One chicken ; other eggs not 



good. 



Would not sit ; eggs put 

 under No. 5 all fertile. 





Hens No. 7 and 8 had one cock bird between them. No. 8 

 would not sit, so her eggs were put under No. 5, and all proved 

 to be fertile, and hatched. 



The experiment was also tried of mating one cock with 



experiments. - 



two hens ; this was not altogether a success. At first two 

 hens (Nos. 7 and 8) were placed in one coop with a cock ; but 

 it was found that this was a failure on account of the jealousy 

 of the hens, the stronger and more pugnacious hen would 

 never allow the other to receive any attention from the cock 

 bird, and eventually one of the hens had to be removed. 

 i j Another method adopted was that of placing two hens 

 side by side in two coops, and a cock was kept with them 

 and placed in each coop alternately for forty-eight hours. 

 One hen laid seven eggs ; the other laid four eggs, but would 

 not sit. The hen with seven eggs hatched one chicken ; 

 the four eggs from the other hen were placed under another 

 bird, and all produced chickens. 



Coccidiosis. Out of the forty chickens hatched out seventeen died ; all 



the rest of the birds were healthy and strong. Those that died 

 were all between four and six weeks old ; these birds were 

 examined, and were all found to be suffering from Coccidiosis. 

 Coccidia were chiefly found in the duodenum and blind caeca, 

 but many of these young birds also presented symptoms of 

 pneumonia ; in these birds coccidian oocysts were found in 

 the trachea, the bronchi, and the bronchioles. It is quite 



