IN THE POULTRY YARD. ist 
Nests and Nest Eggs. 
SALE nest of every bird is primarily designed for hatching 
and rearing its young. The use to which we put the 
laying nests is not one designed by nature. This being . 
the object, the bird likes seclusion, and always plays at “nest- 
hiding” when it can get achance. No one ever found a stolen 
nest exposed to the full glare of observation ; it is into dark corners 
and out of the way places that nature leads the bird. And yet I 
have seen otherwise intelligent men place the nests of their laying 
hens so that they were fully exposed to view. 
During the height of the laying season the nests in the houses 
did not give the birds quite room enough, and I never like to see 
two birds on one nest, so I had an extra lot of the hatching boxes 
made and placed them in the sheds and against’ fences, but at 
such a distance from the latter that the hens could walk in between 
the box and the wall and so reach the nest. 
To examine these nests, or to collect eggs, it was not necessary - 
to go in front of the boxes; all we had to do was to let down the 
hinged board and everything was within reach. If, on first open- 
ing the door, a hen was seen on the nest, the door was gently 
closed again, and she was left to her own meditations. 
In making nests for both the laying and sitting hens, we used a 
fine kind of grass or hay that is used for packing glassware, and 
can be obtained in moderate quantities from almost any crockery 
store. Common straw is too coarse; if chopped short the cut ends 
irritate the hen, and if left long her feet get entangled in it, and the 
eggs get broken. Pine shavings make a fair nest, and the turpep- 
tine keeps away lice. But fine grass, dusted with sulphur, cannot 
be excelled. 
The nests of both our laying and sitting hens were made directly 
on the ground, or, if on a floor, a sod with the grassy side up was 
