274 FARMING FOR LADIES, [chap, xiii, 



of ducklings plunge into the water ;" though 

 it is pitiable to perceive the agony with which 

 she witnesses an act which, in her apprehen- 

 sion, exposes them to instant death. But, 

 putting aside all question of feeliyig, and 

 merely viewing it as a matter of manage- 

 ment, we deem it injudicious ; for the duck- 

 lings pay no attention to the signals of the 

 poor hen, which in vain calls them from the 

 brink of the pond, and frequently continue 

 swimming until they become cramped with 

 cold, whereas the real mother draws them 

 from the water whenever nature tells her that 

 a longer stay would be injurious. Hens 

 should not, therefore, in our opinion, be used, 

 unless when the ducks are to be brought up 

 without having the advantage of a stream or 

 pond ; and — to use the appropriate language 

 of a recent anonymous writer on the subject 

 — " we cannot help thinking it more in unison 

 with God's intentions that each species should 

 be nursed by a mother of its own kind." 



In White's ' History of Selborne,' a hen is, 

 however, told of, which had, for three succes- 

 sive seasons, been occupied in rearing broods 

 of ducks, and became so habituated to their 



