68 THE BEARING AND 



are by good engravings, than to desire that a set of half-hatched 

 eggs should be broken to gratify their curiosity. A shattered 

 and imperfectly formed chick, struggling in vain in the fluid 

 that ought to perfect its frame, till it sinks in a gradual and 

 convulsive death, is a horrible spectacle, though on a small scale. 



"The shell of all Eggs, when newly laid, is nearly half as 

 thick again as it is when the young bird has to penetrate it. 

 Otherwise, especially in the case of some thick-shelled Eggs, 

 those of the Guinea- Fowl for instance, the tender little creatures 

 would be scarcely equal to the task. As to what becomes of 

 the other part of the shell, there is an ingenious theory by 

 Knapp. l The shell of the egg appears to be designed for the 

 accomplishment of two purposes. One of the offices of this 

 calcareous coating, which consists of carbonate and phosphate 

 of lime, is to unite with the white of the Egg, and form, during 

 incubation, the feathers and bone of the future young onej 

 but as a large portion of this covering remains after the young 

 are produced, its other object is to guard from injury the partg 

 within I'"//; H. 



Shortly before the time of hatching arrives, the chickens 

 may be heard to chirp and tap against the wails of their shell. 

 Soon a slight fracture is perceived towards the upper end, 

 caused by force from within. The fracture is continued around 

 the top of the egg,* which then opens like a lid, and the little 

 bird struggles into daylight. The tapping -which is heard, 

 and which opens the prison doors, is caused by the bill of the 

 included chick : the mother has nothing to do with its libera- 

 tion, beyond casting the empty shells out of the nest. At the 

 tip of the bill of every new-hatched chick, on the upper surface, 

 a whitish scale will be observed, about the size of a pin's head, 

 but much harder than the bill itself. Had the beak been 



* I have known the fracture occasionally to be towards the email 

 end ; in each cases the chick may require assistance. ED. 



