264 
THE RUMPLESS FOWL. 
of the scythe ; and two chickens were all that could 
be saved from the wreck. One of the mowers con- 
veyed the two young birds in his hat to the villager 
who had owned the hen, and whose house was hard 
by. She brought them up at the fire-side. They 
were male and female. The male was rumpless, 
and without a tail, whilst the female had a rump, 
and a tail of ordinary size. 
When the former had become a full-grown fowl, 
I introduced to it a rumpless hen, by way of com- 
panion. She laid fourteen eggs, and sat upon them 
with great perseverance ; but every egg proved 
addle. After this, she produced a dozen more in 
the course of the summer ; and she sat upon them, 
but with no better success. I then substituted a 
male fowl with a tail, in lieu of her rumpless para- 
mour ; and they soon became a loving couple. She 
laid well the summer following, and sat twice ; but 
her repeated efforts to produce a family were of no 
avail. During her last sitting, a Malay hen, of pry- 
ing habits, took the opportunity of her momentary 
absence from the nest, and laid an egg in it. This 
produced a chicken, which the rumpless stepmother 
reared with maternal care. 
It would appear, from these experiments, that 
the rumpless fowl is not prolific. But Cervantes 
tells us, that one swallow does not make summer. 
Una golondrina, no hace verano." Wherefore 
further investigation is absolutely necessary, before 
the affair in question can be set at rest. However, 
the testimony which follows tends to prove that the 
rumpless fowl is fully capable of producing its race. 
