28 PRACTICAL PHEASANT REARING. 



must do it for them. This is easily ascertained by 

 marking the eggs in pencil with the date they are put 

 down upon, leaving this at first uppermost, so as to 

 see the next morning if it is still visible or not. If 

 the date has not shifted its position, the hen is not up 

 to her work, and you will have to assist her by 

 turning the eggs. You need not be so very particular 

 as to how much or how little turning you do. Half 

 or a quarter turn will be quite sufficient ; and, if you 

 can spare the time, it will be well to mark on the first 

 occasion the bare space of shell that lies uppermost 

 with the figure i ; on the second mark them all 2, 

 then 3, and so on, and you will soon be able to tell 

 how the hen is performing her duties In about a 

 fortnight the eggs will be covered with pencil marks, 

 and, should one egg fail to be properly turned, it will 

 probably in the end be found to be addled. 



The object of turning the eggs is not, as so many 

 people suppose, to warm them all over, but for the 

 purpose of changing the relative position of the 

 embryo in the shell, during the early stages of 

 incubation. The embryo, which is attached to and 

 becomes a part of the upper surface of the yolk sac, 

 is pressed with some force against the upper surface 

 of the inside of the shell, and if the point d'appui be 

 not altered after a certain number of hours, the 

 -albumen in which the important contents of the egg 

 are floating gets gradually forced aside, and by the 

 process of absorption the embryo comes into contact 



