PMes NaturallHilliorid. ^©t 



A from hetjand put under hens for to be fitten upon • for why^thc Peacockes veill breake tfiCm if 

 they can meet with them J becaulc they cannot mifleand (pare the Peahens companie whiles 



fthey are broodic and fitting :vvhich is the caufe that they are wont to lay by night, or in fomc 

 fecrct corner out of the way, and that from an high place where they pearch : and then , unlcfle 

 there be good heed takenthat theeggesbc latched infomefoitbed imdcrneath^they are foonc 

 broken.OnePeacockeisfufficient to goe with five wives: for when there is but twaine [the vil- 

 laine is fo leacherous] with overmuch treading he hindereth their laying, and marreth the knot 

 of cgges which is engcndred within them . The Peahen doth hatch in 2 8 daies, or in thirtie at 

 thcfatthcft. 



Ganders and Geefe engender togither in the very water. Geefe lay ordinarily in the Cptin^ : 

 B or if they were trodcn about mid- winter, then ye fhall have them lay after the winter Sunftee'cl, 

 fome fortie daies or very necrc.They have ufuaiiy two laiters in the yeere, namely, if hens hat- 

 ched their former egges.Themoft that they hatch at one fictingiisfixteen 5andthe fewefl,feven, 

 If a man fiieale their egges from them^they lay ftill^and never give over till they be ready to btirft 

 with laying.No birds egges but their own will they hatch.The mofi profitable way,is to fet them 

 upon nine or eleven. The females onely fit, and that for the fpaccof thirtie daics, unlefle it be 

 warmeweatherj and then they will have done by 2 5. If one of their goflingsbe fiungnever fo 

 little with a nettle, it will die of it. Their ownegreedie feeding alfois their banciforone while 

 they will eat untill theyburftagainCj another whiles kill thcrnfeiveS with firaining their owne 

 felves:forif thcychaunceto catch hold of aroot withtheirbill, they will bite and pull fo hard 

 C for to have it, that many times they breake their own necks withall^beforethey leave their hold. 

 Againft the ftingingof nettles, the remedie is, thatfo foone as they be hatched, there be fome 

 netde roots laid under their nd\ of Uraw* 



Chap. LX, 



^ of Herons and Bit tours : and the besi waj to keepe egges longi 



F Herons be three forts, ^Leucon,^Aficrias, and ^Pellon. Thefelaftengendetwith * ACricll, or 

 'muchpainc and difficultie. And as for the males verily ,they crie againe for a^iguillijand '^•varte Her 

 the blood (lauts out of their eyes in the ad of treading. And with as much adoe and trou- * a c^ldou 

 D ble doG the females lay,af ter they be knit with egge.The ^gle and the moft part of greater fouls, Heron?" 

 fit ihirric daies : whereas the lelTe continuebut twentie,as the Kite and the Hawke. The Kite ufu- 

 ally hatcheth but one at' a time, and never above three : but that kind which is called i^golios^ 

 fometimes fours . The Raven alfo now and then,five: and thofe coove as many daies . Whiles 

 the female Croxv fittcth, the male feedeth her. ThePiotjOrdinarily biingeth foorth nine Pian- 

 nets : the fig-pecker Melancoryphus,above twentie^but evermore an odde one : and there is not 

 a bird that goeth therin above her.Lo how Nature is willing to multiply the race of litde birds i 

 The young Swallowes are at the firftjblind, and fo are all fuch as are hatched many in number* 

 Windcgs,which we call Hypenemia.come either by themutuali treading of hens one another, 

 by an imaginarie conceit of the maIe,or els by duft. And fuch egs not only Doves do bring^but 

 E houfe Hens allb, P^rcridges^Peahcns, Geefe^and Brants^or the femaleBarganders . Now tbefe 

 egs are barren as one ivould fay,and never proove birds, lefie than others^not fo pleafant in tafi, 

 and befidss more moift. Some arc of opinion^that the wind wilf engender them : for which caufe 

 alfo they are called Zephyriap.Weft.wind-egs-Jand verily fuch egs are fecn only in fpring^when 

 that wind bloweth . Addle egges,which fome'called Cynbfura, are they that chill upon the neftj 

 when the hen is gone and giveth over fitting. Egges fi:eeped in ftrong vinegre will come to be fo 

 foft,that they will pafle and be drawne through the ring of a mans finger. The beft way to keepc 

 cgs,isinbean.mealeorfioure;andduringwinter,inchaffe5butforfummer time, in bran, liis x 

 thought,if they lie in fal£,their fubttance will waft and confume to nothing within the Khdl. 



*■ . - 



F Chap. lxi. 



What birdalom hr'wgcih firth a living creature^and feedeth it mth mike, 



HTHe Rercmoufe or Bat,aIone of all creatures that fliCj bringeth forth young alive :and none 

 * but fhe of thatkind hath wings made of panniclcs or thin skins . She is the onely bird that 



Dd fucklcth 



on. 



