£08 THE HEX. 



to be a short-lived animal, but seldom dies from infir- 

 mity and age : its courage and perseverance are nei- 

 ther to be restrained, for it frequently fights until it 

 drops down dead. 



THE HEN. 



As a parent, this bird excites admiration, for at 

 those periods she seems to acquire both fierceness and 

 strength : and though remarkably timid when her 

 affections are unoccupied, when she has young ones 

 to take care of, becomes suddenly bold. 



The number of eggs which a domestic hen will lay 

 in a year, if she is well supplied with water and food, 

 are said to amount to more than two hundred, though 

 she seldom hatches more than one brood, as those 

 who make a trade of this animal's productions find her 

 eggs a more profitable article than her young. The 

 nest of a hen discovers no ingenuity, as a hole scratched 

 in the ground, or made amongst bushes, is the recep- 

 tacle she chooses for the place of her retreat, where 

 she displays a degree of patience and perseverance 

 that proves how tenderly she is interested in the wel-. 

 fare of her brood. For some days she remains fixed 

 in her habitation, and does not even quit it to seek a 

 supply of food ; and when the calls of hunger are too 

 urgent to be neglected, she impatiently returns to her 

 interesting seat, turns her eggs, and changes their si- 

 tuation, that every part may be equally benefited by 

 their heat. After having been carefully nurtured for 

 three weeks, the young ones give symptoms of invigora- 

 tion and life; and, with their little bills, attack the walls 

 of their confinement until they make an opening by 

 which they may escape. The hen, proud of her little 



