Feathered Folk 341 



she stays, clucking very hard, occasionally 

 going back on the nest, then hopping off, to 

 join the little balls of fluff crying on the 

 floor. 



If instead of thus coming off herself she is 

 taken off by the hen-wife, she will scowl 

 mightily, even squawk, and peck so as to 

 draw blood from the hand slipped under her 

 wing to lift her. Hens with game blood fly 

 furiously at whatever comes near the nest, 

 after the first week of brooding. The heavy 

 eastern breeds — Shanghai, Brahma, Cochin, 

 and their derivatives, such as Plymouth Rock 

 — are very gentle, hardly even scowling when 

 lifted off. Leghorn and Black Spanish are 

 so fond of egg-laying they will not hatch out 

 a clutch of eggs, except in very rare cases. 

 To make up for that, they scowl and peck 

 if touched while laying. Brooding hens seem 

 to think it is both a right and duty to claim 

 every egg within reach. They stretch the 

 head into adjoining nests, clutch the egg under 

 their beaks against the breast, and thus roll 

 it into their own nests. They will also often 

 call enticingly to other hens laying close by, 

 and endure almost any amount of crowding 

 while the laying hen deposits her fresh egg 

 along with the rest. Some few hens fight 

 off such intrusion, and if it continues, will 

 even quit the nest. But hens in the mass are 



