NATUBE-STUDT LESSONS. 35 



XI —THE HEN. 



A. Eating. 



1. (a) Discover what kinds of food the hen likes. 



(d) Feed her grain, bread, bits of meat, and observe 

 her finding food for herself or her chickens. 



2. (a) How does she get food out of the ground ? 

 (d) Infer her use in this respect to the farmer. 



3. (a) Examine the bill of the hen to discover how it 



is adapted to pick up grain. 

 (d) Describe the bill and draw it. 



4. Discover whether the hen has teeth. 



5. Discover why the hen picks up and swallows coarse 

 bits of gravel and small pebbles. 



6. (a) When a fowl is " drawn " at home, examine 



its gizzard. Note the thickness of the walls. 

 (l>) From grinding a few grains of wheat between 

 two flat stones, infer the use of the gizzard and 

 the small pebbles which it contains. 



7. Examine the crop and infer its use. 



B. Drinking. 



8. (a) Give the hen some water and observe how she 



drinks. 

 (6) Why does she raise her head when she drinks? 



C. The Covering. 



9. (a) Select feathers from different parts of the body. 

 (i) Observe and describe a large quill-feather from 



the wing. 



A feather is composed of a hollow, homy stem, the gutU, which passes 

 into a four-sided shaft filled with pith, the central axis. 



On each side of the central shaft are the barbs, which, in turn, bear 

 barbules that interlock with the opposed barbules by means of small teeth. 

 The central shaft and barbs of a feather are called the vane. 



Study the barbules, if you have the opportunity, with a good lens or 

 microscope and make drawings of what you observe. 



