CHAP. X.] FARMING FOR LADIES. 227 



handled, then dislocate the pinion joint. The 

 eggs are always to be found in the markets, 

 and thus the plague may be avoided of keep- 

 ing a set of the old birds. 



If reared, a good mode of keeping them 

 near home, and inducing them to lay there, is 

 occasionally to throw any chopped root or ve- 

 getable, which they will watch for ; and to 

 place within side the hedge, or shrubbery, 

 some furze bushes, or heather, and a little 

 straw, in a manner so apparently concealed 

 that they may imagine it cannot be dis- 

 covered. These you of course examine every 

 day or two when they are not present, and 

 if you find an egg, take it away, leaving a 

 false one in its stead. 



In this manner you may collect scores of 

 eggs, for the pintadas are profuse layers, 

 though it is singular that they never cluck, or 

 give any indication like that of a common hen, 

 of their intention ; and this adds materially to 

 the difficulty of discovering their nests. Should 

 they sit, it may be well to let them take their 

 chance of bringing up a brood ; but some of the 

 eggs should also be placed under a hen of any 

 breed known to be a steady sitter, as the chicks 

 q2 



