334 A HAND-BOOK OF THE MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 



not be exhibited together ; there should not be more than three hens to 

 a cock; besides the wicker baskets or nest-boxes full of soft hay or leaves, 

 bundles of faggots or paddy straw may be placed in corners, with a 

 passage just enough to allow the hens to creep in and nestle themselves 

 behind. These places should be searched for eggs, which should be removed 

 immediately after they are laid. In aviaries the hens drop their eggs 

 anywhere, and the male birds frequently destroy and eat them. " There 

 is no doubt," Mr. Tegetmeier says, " but that bad management and 

 improper feeding tend to promote this serious evil. The frequent 

 disturbance of the birds by the inquisitiveness of visitors, bad and 

 improper stimulating food, without a sufficiency of green vegetable 

 diet, want of cleanliness in the pen, an insufficient and dirty supply 

 of water, and want of grit to assist digestion — all aid in developing the 

 habit." The annoyance caused by visitors can be effectually checked 

 in a pheasantry like that described above by simply transferring the 

 breeding pairs to the unoccupied side and closing all access to it. Such 

 a transfer can always be effected without the least disturbance to the 

 birds. Of the various means suggested for preventing the cock bird 

 from breaking the eggs, the following made by Mr. J. F. Dougall, 

 in his " Shooting Simplified," and quoted by Tegetmeier, appears to be 

 simple and practical. " In pheasantries," says he, "means should be 

 taken to prevent the eggs being destroyed by the male bird ; and 

 as it is impossible to keep continual watch, the hen should be induced 

 to seek a dark secluded corner by forming for her an artificial nest 

 covered thinly with straw. Under this straw have a net of mesh 

 exactly wide enough to allow the egg to drop through into a box 

 below, filled with soft seeds or shellings, leaving only a few inches 

 between ; the cock bird then cannot reach the egg, which falls uninjured 

 on the soft seeds below, and is safely removed." "Watching for eggs is 

 perhaps the best and simplest, and is easily managed if the number 

 of birds to deal with is small and the keeper intelligent and careful ; 

 a few imitation eggs made of chalk or marble^ lying about during the 

 laying season may have the desired effect of preventing the cock from 

 acquiring the habit of breaking eggs, or of curing it if acquired. 

 Each hen should not be allowed to sit on more than eight eggs, and 

 it should in no way be disturbed during the period of incubation, 

 or interfered with while rearing its young. The cock should be separated 

 before the eggs are hatched. The chicks should not be fed for 

 about twenty to twenty-four hours after they are hatched; in the 

 meantime some pupae of white- ants should be collected and given 

 them after the lapse of that period ; egg beaten with milk and 

 gently heated forms capital food for chicks about this stage ; they 

 are found to thrive well on food prepared as follows : — A little mutton 

 fat is set by a gentle heat on an oven, and when sufficiently heated a 

 small quantity of bruised canary, millet and hemp seed, and a little finely 

 chopped green vegetable are thrown in it and rapidly stirred and allowed 

 to cool. The mass crumbles away when cold and is easily picked up by 

 the chicks. Bruised Indian-corn and other equally nutritious grain may 

 be added as they grow older. Other modes of feeding chicks have been 

 recommended in works treating of the subject. 



Transport. — Instructions drawn up for the Zoological Society of 

 London by Dr. P. L. Sclater and Mr. Bartlett for the benefit of those 



