90 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS LETTER 



grass, sprinkle the eggs ; do this daily whilst the 

 hens are tethered, and just before returning them to 

 their nests.* 



The water will cause additional heat under the 

 body of the hen as she sits, and will soften the 

 shells of the eggs preparatory to the chicks breaking 

 through. 



In a wild state the hen pheasant leaves her eggs 

 at daybreak to feed, and returns with her breast 

 covered with dew. 



Test the eggs, if you can, on the tenth day after 

 they are set ; do this when the hens are off their 

 nests. There are many varieties of egg testers to be 

 had, but, if you go into a dark shed or room, arid 

 hold the eggs one by one before the keyhole, in an 

 upright position, their ends between the finger and 

 thumb, and place a lamp or candle on a chair oppo- 

 site the keyhole on the other side of the door, you 

 can easily see if they are fertile ; you may even 

 discover if an egg is a good one by holding it cross- 

 ways, enveloped in both hands as if in a tube, before 

 a lamp in an otherwise unlighted room. 



If you can see through an egg, it is a bad one ; 

 if you cannot see through it, save just a little at its 

 thick end, it contains a bird. However, with several 



* If dry east winds prevail, a sitting of eggs may be delayed in 

 hatching quite two days ; in such weather I advise you to damp the 

 eggs every day. 



