BIRDS' NESTS. 201 



anything is thought better than the warm, 

 dry hen-house, where no one is likely to dis- 

 turb them, and where abundance of food is 

 always within reach. Mr. Miller's poultry 

 were very perverse. One hen had made her 

 nest in the kitchen-garden, choosing a bed of 

 carrots ; another had wandered away into the 

 wood, where she stayed for twenty-four hours 

 together, and only came home to be fed ; but 

 what particular spot she had fixed on nobody 

 could find out, though she had been watched 

 many times. She had, however, made a wise 

 selection, as it happened ; for one day she was 

 observed proudly walking up the meadow, 

 with a brood of a dozen chickens at her heels. 

 Another had taken it into her head that the 

 highest place was the safest ; so she had chosen 

 a beam which went across from one side to 

 the other of an old barn. She was not dis- 

 covered until her eggs were almost ready to 

 be hatched ; and when this had taken place, 

 the gardener was obliged to fetch them down 



