SIZE, SHAPE AND PHYSICAL CONSTITUTION OF THE EGG. II/ 
chicken feathers. The eggs of Mr. Gerald’s pullet were very 
small and the yolks were only about one-half the size of the 
yolks of the five to six months old pullets. Also the yolk weight 
increased considerably during the fifteen days observations. 
The case of this precocious pullet adds evidence to the view 
suggested by the data from the flock investigated, namely thar 
the egg yolks increase in weight as the bird 1 matures and that 
this increase is more rapid at early than at later stages of de- 
velopment. There is further evidence of this fact from the 
data on the birds which began to lay in February. These birds 
were from eight and three- fourths to nine months old when 
they began- to lay. 
The relation of the age of the bird at the beginning of laying 
to the size of the first yolk is shown by the data given in table 3. 
TABLE 3. 
Showing the Relation of the Age of the Bird to the Size of 
the 1st Yolk. 
Bird No. 
Age at laying 
1st egg. 
Weight of 1st 
yolk. 
Mean. 
Mr. Gerald’s pullet, 
3 
6.21 
6.21 (1 bird). 
218 
5§ 
10.19 
516 
5f 
10.75 
10 . 945 (4 birds). 
478 
51 
9.30 
236 
5| 
13.74 
446 
6 
13.09 
184 
6 
12.22 
441 
6 
12.63 
259 
61 
10.68 
212 
61 
11.74 
235 
61 
14.05 
192 
61 
10.51 
204 
61 
12.27 
12.236 (13 birds). 
198 
61 
11.53 
139 
61 
11.51 
211 
61 
12.28 
205 
6f 
13.22 
243 
61 
13.35 
137 
7 
13.75 
172 
71 
13.27 
13 . 51 (2 birds). 
459 
81 
14.19 
489 
81 
17.63 
514 
( 
9 
15.11 
15 . 643 (3 birds). 
Data on the eggs of the birds which began to lay in February 
show also that in these cases the yolk weight does not begin 
small and increase very rapidly, as in the case of the bird? 
which begin to lay in the fall. In fact with one exception the 
yolk weight shows a slight decrease for the first few months. 
