208 THE POULTRY-BOOK. 



signs of desire, on the part of hens, to lay, and concerning the 

 process : 



" When a hen is near to the time of laying, her comb and 

 wattles change from their previous dull hue to a bright red, 

 while the eye becomes more bright, the gait more spirited, and 

 she occasionally cackles for three or four days. These signs 

 rarely prove false ; and when the time comes that a hen wants 

 to lay, she appears very restless, going backwards and forwards, 

 visiting every nook and corner, cackling the while, as if dis- 

 pleased because she cannot suit herself with a convenient nest. 

 Not having looked out for one previously, she rarely succeeds 

 in pleasing herself till the moment comes she can no longer 

 tarry, when she is compelled to choose one of the boxes or bas- 

 kets provided for this purpose in the fowl-house. There she 

 settles herself in silence, and lays. 



In some instances, a hen will make choice of a particular 

 nest to lay in, and when, on desiring to lay, she finds this nest 

 preoccupied by another hen, she will wait till it is vacated; 

 but, in other cases, hens will go into any nest they find, pre- 

 ferring, for the most part, those which have the greatest num- 

 ber of eggs. The process of laying is most probably rather 

 painful, though the hen does not indicate this by her cries ; but 

 the instant she has done, she leaves the nest, and utters her joy 

 by peculiarly loud notes, which are reechoed by the cock, as 

 well as by some of the other hens. Some hens, however, leave 

 the nest, after laying, in silence." 



It seems ever to have been an object of great importance, in 

 an economical point of view, to secure the laying of hens during 

 those parts of the year when, if left to themselves, they are 

 indisposed to deposit their eggs. 



" Man." says M. Parmentier, " who thinks of nothing but 

 his own interest, has attempted several means of rousing hens 

 from their torpidity, when they cease, at the natural period of 



