204 FAKMING FOR LADIES. [chap. ix. 



cut straw may also be thrown upon the nest, 

 more for the sake of cleanliness than warmth, 

 for they not unfrequently lay upon the floor 

 of the shed in which they roost. 



The time of their laying is most usually in 

 the morning of every second day, though some 

 will lay every day ; and, if there be any ap- 

 pearance of an egg being ready to come forth, 

 the hen should be kept in the house until it is 

 layed. She will go to the nest (in which, of 

 course, a false egg has been laid as an in- 

 ducement) without repugnance, and by doing 

 so two or three times she will not desert it ; 

 but if she has already secretly made a nest, 

 which you have discovered, then do not re- 

 move it, unless it should be exposed to the 

 incursions of polecats, rats, or foxes ; for 

 frequent instances have been known of turkeys 

 straying from their home into a forest, and 

 having long afterwards come back, followed 

 by a healthy progeny. 



The period of their incubation lasts from 

 twenty-nine to two-and-thirty days ; but its 

 close may be calculated as commonly occur- 

 ring on the thirtieth, and they are such 

 patient sitters that they will sometimes remain 



