246 
THE PEA FOWL. 
We cannot, in this place, resist the opportunity now 
afforded, of noting down some circumstances which fell 
under our own observation, regarding the sagacity of 
a favourite Pea Hen, generally supposed a very wild 
bird : — In her third year, and very early in spring, the 
weather being most unsettled and stormy, she com- 
menced the process of depositing her eggs, the first of 
which she dropped in a situation perfectly open and 
unprotected, the consequence of which, as might have 
been expected, was its immediate destruction by the 
Magpies. Of this blasting of her hopes, however, she 
was unconscious ; and she sat perched, during a fearful 
night, upon the naked branch of a high tree, watching 
over the precious deposit. Next day she soon dis- 
covered her loss, and immediately selected a more 
secluded spot for her future operations, in the imme- 
diate view, and about fifty yards from our dwelling- 
house. We used the precaution to cover this second 
egg with the dried leaves of the beech tree. The third 
day she not only deposited another egg, but added some 
more leaves herself, which we encouraged sparingly. 
