60 PAKMING FOR LADIES. [chap. ii. 



Hens with large flaccid combs are thought 

 sickly ; but if the hen has a bright comb so 

 large as to hang down upon the head, it is a 

 sign of her being both a good layer, a good 

 sitter, and a good nurse. 



A jet-black hen is an earlier sitter, and a 

 later, as well as a better moulter, than a white 

 one. 



Should a hen crow like a cock, it is a bad 

 sign ; and there is an allusion comparatively 

 spiteful to them, to priests and blue-stocking 

 ladies, which our deference, both to the cloth 

 and the ladies pointed at, will not allow us 

 to repeat. 



AVhen fowls roll more than usual upon the 

 ground, or in the sand, and the cock crows 

 in the evening, or at unusual hours, we may 

 generally infer the approach of rain : " loud 

 also quacks the duck ;" and geese, if the 

 weather threatens to be wet, stay on shore ; 

 but, if fine, go to the water. 



