THE SHOKT-FACED TUMBLEB. 123 



it may safely be set at liberty, taking care to expose it to the air as short a time 

 as possible. "When it is disengaged from the shell, a portion of the yolk will be 

 seen attached to its navel, which will nourish it for a day or two, if the old ones 

 should not happen to feed it immediately; and this is by degrees absorbed or taken 

 up into the intestines of the young bird, by which time it will want feeding, 

 which must be attended to by the fancier. It is by the yolk's being thus taken 

 into the abdomen of the foetus, that it is nourished during the latter stage of its 

 confinement in the egg. If the young one should be a long time disengaging 

 itself, after having chipped the shell, there will be less of the yolk to be seen, 

 from its having absorbed a part of it for its support; and it will be hatched 

 perfectly dry, and the navel will be well closed. 



" The fancier should always mark the day of the month when the hen lays her 

 last egg, in chalk or pencil, somewhere about the pen, that he may ascertain the 

 day on which she ought to hatch. 



" Shifting is a matter that is essentially necessary to be attended to, in order 

 to raise a promising young bird. I have before hinted how early the old birds 

 begin to decline sitting on their young ; this is more particularly the case with the 

 Almond Tumblers, who will rarely bring up their own young, except in the height 

 of summer, by reason of their quitting them sooner, to go to nest again. They 

 begin to get restless as early as the eighth day, and the ninth, or tenth, they will 

 be off the nest for an hour or more at a time, and get calling to nest again ; by 

 which the young ones are left exposed to the air before they have a feather upon 

 them, and die of cold, with their crops full. To obviate this, he should shift 

 them under another pair that have not hatched so long, and kill the young ones 

 he takes away from such other pair : in doing which, he gets these shifted young 

 ones an additional supply of warmth from being sat on, and of soft meat, from 

 the fresh pair got having hatched or fed so long, and consequently their soft meat 

 not being exhausted. 



"It is better to get a pair or two of common Tumblers for feeders or nurses, 

 such as Baldheads or Beards ; and by killing their young, which he will do with- 

 out reluctance, he may be certain of bringing up his young Almonds ; and if he is 

 judicious, he may always, or for the most part, have a succession of feeders, by 

 taking away the hens of his feeders, and confining them awhile : and when any of 

 his best Almonds are within a day or two of laying, turn the feeder-hen to her 

 mate, and they will go to nest immediately, and lay in a week or less after the 

 others, by which means he will get a certain shift for his young Almonds, at the 

 distance of six, seven, or eight days, which is just the time the old ones begin to 

 desert them, and thus bring up a pair of good birds, which, without such feeders, 

 he probably would have lost. He should let the common birds feed their own 

 young a day or two after hatching, to bring on their soft meat. 



"Drafting the young ones into another loft is very desirable, provided the 

 fancier is not straitened for room. As soon as the young ones can feed them- 

 selves, they should be taken into the loft provided for them, and have plenty of 



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