33. THE HEN. 



day in summer, all the fowls in Farmer 

 Green's barnyard had a meeting. Each, in 

 turn, was to tell something about himself. It 

 came the hen's turn to talk. 



" My friends," she said, " I belong to the family 

 of scratchers. My legs are short and are in the 

 center of my body. On each foot, I have three 

 toes in front and one behind. 



" All my family have rough toes and nails that 

 are short and blunt. If our nails were long and 

 sharp, they would not help us in scratching, and 

 we could not walk so well. When .we place our 

 feet on the ground, the toes spread. 



" Our home is not in the air or in the water, 

 but on the ground. So our wings are not strong. 

 " My sister hens and I are never idle, but 

 scratch all day for our food. We 

 like very much to eat the worms and 

 bugs we find. I have heard children 

 say, * I wonder how the hen can see 

 those little bugs, I cannot.' They 



7* 



