130 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
been deposited, the hen, after laying an egg, and while 
leaving the nest, will pick up straws, grass and leaves, 
or whatever suitable material is at hand, and throw it 
backward over her back as she leaves the nest, and by 
the time the set is complete, quite a quantity of this 
litter is collected about the nest. She will then sit or 
her nest and reach out and gather in the nesting ma- 
terial and place it about her, and, when completed, the 
nest is very deep and nicely bordered with grass and 
leaves. 
“So strong is the habit or instinct of throwing the 
nesting materials over the back, that they will fre- 
quently throw it away from the nest, instead of to- 
ward it, as the hen will sometimes follow a trail of 
material that will turn her right about, so that her 
head is toward the nest, but all the time she will con- 
tinue to throw what she picks up over her back. This, of 
course, is throwing the material away from the nest. 
Discovering her mistake, she will then right about 
face and pick up the same material that an instant 
before was being thrown away, and throw it over her 
back again, toward the nest. 
“The way they will steal eggs from one another 
would do credit to a London pickpocket. Two hens 
had their nests near together, perhaps two feet apart, 
and as each hen laid every other day, one nest would 
be vacant while the other would be occupied. The 
hen that laid last would not go away until she had 
stolen the nest egg from the other nest and placed it 
in her own. I once saw a hen attempt to steal an egg 
