Breeding, 53 



tice, you may expect the young birds on the twen- 

 tieth day ; if the latter, eighteen days. In the early 

 part of the season the hatching may be, and is, some- 

 times delayed a daj' or two longer, and contrariwise 

 in the height of summer the 3-oung birds chip the 

 shell from twelve to twentj'-four hours earlier. 



THE HATCHING PERIOD. 



I intend speaking of some more of the trouble- 

 some obstacles to progress, and also hope at the same 

 time to show my readers how to avoid them, or 

 to alleviate and minimise the results thereof. The 

 first is a very common trouble, and arises generally 

 from one or two causes. It often happens that an 

 egg gets a slight puncture, or is cracked, during the 

 process of incubation. Sometimes this is caused by 

 the sand and excreta adhering in little balls to the feet 

 of the old birds, which destroj^s their sense of feeling, 

 and interferes with their turning the eggs properly. 

 If the birds' perches and nest boxes are kept thorough- 

 ly clean, and they are given a bath daily, eggs will 

 seldom, if ever, be punctured from thiis cause. At 

 other times, i't may arise through a strange bird in- 

 vading the nest-box, and wanting to usurp the privi- 

 leges of its regular occupants. In such cases there 

 is usually a battle royal, and eggs, if not absolutely 

 smashed, are either punctured or cracked. 



INSPECTING EGGS. 



The eggs should be looked at once each day, 

 either first thing in the mo^ming or the last thing at 

 night, the latter for preference, because accidents 

 more often happen during the day than they do dur- 

 ing the night, and, as a consequence, remedies can 

 be applied more quickly, and evil results more often 

 prevented if the diurnal inspection takes place at 

 night. When an egg is found to be either punctured 

 or cracked (that is the shell only, because it is useless 

 doing anything if the inner membrane has been rup- 

 tured) , it should at once be repaired. This can be 

 done in two ways, one by cutting out one or two thin 

 strips of stamp edging, and sticking them over the 



