ORDER PASSERES. 29^ 



The most robust female should always be preferred to 

 cover the extraneous eggs. Some can cover five or six. 

 Breeders recommend the substitution of ivory eggs, in the 

 manner we have already described, in all cases, for by so 

 doing, the young will all be disclosed together. The brood 

 generally comes forth about the same hour, between six and 

 seven in the morning, if the female enjoys uninterrupted 

 health. If it be retarded but a single hour, it is a proof that 

 she is not well, except in the case of the last egg, which is 

 generally delayed for some hours, and sometimes for an entire 

 day. This egg is always smaller than the rest, and we are 

 assured that the young one from it always proves to be a 

 male. The defenders of the above-mentioned practice, say, 

 that if the eggs are left to the females, they will be hatched 

 at different times, the first born will be stronger than those 

 which come forth after, will consume all the aliment, and 

 often crush or suffocate the last. Others find this practice to 

 be contrary to the process of nature, say that it subtracts 

 from the female a considerable portion of heat, and encum- 

 bers her at once with five or six young ones, which, coming 

 all together, disturb her. They also assert, and, after all, this 

 is a matter of experience, and not of theory, that letting the 

 female alone is the best way to have the brood thrive. It is 

 certain, that too much nicety and too much care are often 

 found more prejudicial than useful. Nature should as much 

 as possible be always followed. 



The incubation lasts thirteen days. It may be retarded 

 or advanced one day, from some casual circumstance. Heat 

 accelerates the exclusion of the young. Cold retards it. 

 Therefore in the month of April, the incubation lasts thirteen 

 days and a half, or fourteen days, according to the tempera^ 

 ture of the air. On the contrary, in the month of July and 

 August, it sometimes happens that the young are excluded 

 at the end of twelve days. It is s^d that thunder will turn 



