THE POULTRY-YARD. 271 



trouble, and supposing one bird always laid her 

 eggs so that they were easily found while another 

 managed to conceal them, those of the first 

 would doubtless be chosen for breeding purposes, 

 and the chicks hatched therefrom would tend 

 to inherit their mother's cackling idiosyncrasies. 

 Another reason why a change has taken place 

 is because domestic birds live a life almost 

 totally devoid of fear. Although man has 

 preyed upon them and defrauded them in the 

 most systematic manner for thousands of genera- 

 tions, the poor blockheads have never found 

 him out, and still allow him to pose as their 

 friend. He may go into the henhouse and 

 steal the eggs, and there is scarcely a croak of 

 protest, whereas if a fox or a ferret were to 

 make its appearance there would be a great 

 hubbub. If the wild hen has an impulse to 

 cackle when she moves from her nest, she re- 

 strains it because of the fear of enemies which 

 always possesses wild creatures, until she is at 

 a safe distance from her treasury. But the 

 domestic hen, having nothing to fear, requires 

 no such self-control, and can shriek as soon 

 and as loud as her hysterical impulse dictates. 

 It is strange how the security enjoyed by 



