264" THE RUMPLESS FOWL. 



killed by a stroke of the scythe ; and two chickens 

 were all that could be saved from the wreck. One 

 of the mowers conveyed the two young birds in his 

 hat to the villager who had owned the hen, and whose 

 house was hard by. She brought them up at the 

 fire-side. They were male and female. The male 

 was rumpless, arid without a tail, whilst the female 

 had a rump, and a tail of ordinary size. 



When the former had become a full-grown fowl, 

 I introduced to it a rumpless hen, by way of com- 

 panion. She laid fourteen eggs, and sat upon them 

 with great perseverance; but every egg proved 

 addle. After this, she produced a dozen more in 

 the course of the summer ; and she sat upon them, 

 but with no better success. I then substituted a 

 male fowl with a tail, in lieu of her rumpless para- 

 mour ; and they soon became a loving couple. She 

 laid well the summer following, and sat twice ; but 

 her repeated efforts to produce a family were of 

 no avail. During her last sitting, a Malay hen, of 

 prying habits, took the opportunity of her momen- 

 tary absence from the nest, and laid an egg in it. 

 This produced a chicken, which the rumpless step- 

 mother reared with maternal care. 



It would appear, from these experiments, that 

 the rumpless fowl is not prolific. But Cervantes 

 tells us, that one swallow does not make summer. 

 " Una golondrina, no hace verano." Wherefore 

 further investigation is absolutely necessary, before 

 the affair in question can be set at rest. However, 

 the testimony which follows tends to prove that the 

 rumpless fowl is fully capable of producing its race. 



