THE DOMESTIC FOWL. 117 



NURSING- THE YOUNG- BROODS. 



LET us now suppose that the chick has opened the 

 door of its egg. Feeble trembler, on the verge of an 

 unknown state of existence, what are its sensations ! 

 Had it but reason, how applicable to it would be Buf- 

 fon's eloquent description of man, springing up at the 

 bidding of his Creator into life and light, at once en- 

 raptured, perplexed, and bewildered. But the chick 

 is guided by instinct alone ; it has nothing to learn, 

 no ideas to be conceived through the medium of the 

 senses, and yet it is interesting to watch it at this 

 juncture. It is free; the first thing it does, while yet 

 on the threshold of the egg, is to draw its head from 

 under its wing, and to direct it forwards, the neck 

 trembling beneath the weight which it has now for the 

 first time to sustain. With its neck stretched forwards, 

 and scarcely able to raise itself on its legs, it rests for 

 a few minutes, till its strength is recruited ; the fresh 

 air revives it, it raises itself up, it lifts its head, it 

 turns its neck from side to side, and begins to feel its 

 innate powers. Its downy plumage, the precursor of 

 feathers, being wet with the fluid of the egg, lies close 

 to the skin, in stripes down the body and on the wings; 

 besides, it is not yet fairly free from the sheath in 

 which every plumelet is enclosed. As it dries, every 

 tuft expands, or opens, like a feathery flower ; the 

 little membranous sheaths split and fall off ; and the 

 chick rises in its nest, clothed with a downy garment 

 of exquisite delicacy ! 



An experienced poultry maid, in giving directions to 

 her young successor, may be supposed to discourse as 

 follows : "Do not meddle with the eggs nor the nest ; 

 the hen knows better than you, and if they require 

 turning, when, and in what position to place them. 

 She will seldom forsake them, or leave them long 

 enough to be addled, which is caused by the change 

 from heat to cold. Watch patiently and quietly. On 

 the eighteenth or nineteenth day, if you put your ear 



