Our  Canaries 
153 
"  3.  An"  untried  one-year-old  hen  is  kept  in  a  box-cage  by  herself,  and 
no  nest-pan  or  material  is  offered.  No  eggs  laid,  but  the  hen  selects  a  spot 
on  the  floor  of  the  cage  and  sits  on  it  for  some  four  or  five  weeks.  She  is 
then  placed  in  a  breeding  cage,  with  pan  and  material,  and  the  cock  intro- 
duced, whom  she  immediately  calls  to  her,  and  copulation  takes  place.  No 
attempt  is  made  at  nest  building,  and  an  egg  is  dropped  on  the  floor  of  the 
cage  on  the  eighth  day. 
"  4.  An  untried  young  German  hen  fails  to  lay  eggs,  does  not  attempt 
building  the  first  year,  and  does  not  squat. 
"  5.  A  third-year  hen 
that  rears  two  nests  and 
incubates  addled  eggs  for 
six  weeks  at  third  attempt. 
"  6.  A  three-year-old 
Border  hen  that  goes  a 
first  round  but  squats  at 
the  second  attempt." 
FROM  BAD  TO  WORSE. 
"7.  A  trial  Norwich 
hen  in  her  first  season  rears 
naturally  three  successive 
broods.  In  the  second  year 
builds,  but  no  eggs  laid. 
The  third  year  she  builds 
an  excellent  nest,  lays  no 
eggs,  but  begins  incuba- 
tion. Eggs  put  under  her  after  two  weeks.  She  duly  hatches  them, 
but  makes  not  the  slightest  attempt  at  feeding,  and  sits  tight  on  the 
unfortunate  young  till  they  are  killed  and  flattened  out. 
"  8.  A  tried  or  an  untried  Border  hen,  not  paired  up,  but  kept  alone, 
lays  an  occasional  egg  on  the  floor  at  intervals,  and  makes  attempts  at 
incubating  it. 
"  g.  A  three-year-old  Crest-bred  hen  in  the  past  two  seasons  makes  no 
attempt  to  lay,  but  squats. 
"  In  most,  if  not  all,  of  these  instances  of  failure  to  lay  eggs,  the  actual 
time  of  laying  is  indicated  by  some  slight  fulness  in  the  region  of  the  vent. 
To  understand  the  significance  of  these  various  cases,  it  is  necessary  to 
investigate  the  natural  process  of  egg  production.  It  is  not  improbable  that 
the  capacity  for  reproduction  in  hens  is  a  variable  quantity.  Some  hens  are 
capable  of  laying  more  eggs  than  others  ;  of  having  larger  clutches ;  and  of 
spreading  the  reproductive  period  over  a  greater  number  of  successive  years.  It 
TESTING  THE  FERTILITY  OF  EGGS. 
To  ascertain  the  Fertility  or  otherwise  oi  eggs  undergoing  incubation 
they  arc  held  before  a  nole  cut  in  a  piece  of  black  cardboard,  the 
latter  being  held  to  a  strong  light. 
