The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1895-09-20

that time-one that had shown no
signs whatever of a desire to stand
S eng the eggs already arranged
immediately took possession OF the
nest. The brood was duly Matched,
but the foster mother was not destlnei
to enjoy the bringing up OF all her
chicks. for no sooner had they left the
st than /, pirate hen which had APP
parentIy been lying in wait, assert d
protectorship over several OF them,
and took them off to raise according
to her own notions. This particular
method is rather uncommon, tn ugh
1t not infrequsntly happens that when
two hens are sitting near each other
both of them will 60 off with the
fast brood Matched and abandon the
others to their fate even though tn y
be within day Of Matching.
"Another odd occurred last year. |
had two hens, black one and Il white
one. that would sit on the same nest
side by side. Neither one appeared to
mind the 9th T. in the Least, but, on
the contrary, there seemed to be an
understanding between them, us thy
snuggl d up closely together and Care
fully covered all the eggs. BY some
chance only two chicks were hatch d,
a black enc and white one, and
whether it was mere accident or not
cannot say but each took the one of
lis own color, and while they brought
them up together, yet each hen only
fed its own chick. From all I've seen
of the queer ways of hens, am inclin-
ed to believe that these particular ones
understood what tn y were dong. and
in their consideration-if | may be
allowed the expression-this Wis the
surest way of @ ting III II own OIL
spring.
Il ara much interest d a present
in what seems to me the odd ST freak
of all. About two weeks ago set IA
white hen on thirteen eggs. as usual
in an old barrel which Was on It's 81 'e.
No sooner had do ne this than black
hen took up her station Immediately "a
the mouth of the barrel, and began to
sit on the bare ground. | decided to
let her alone aud watch the result,
as | was sure she had some idea to
work out. Nor was | mistaken, for In
couple Of days, when the white hen
came off to get some food, the
black one imme diately took her place.
Naturally, | expected some dis'ur
bance on her return, but in this | was
disappointed. She appeared to know
exact'v what the black hen had been
sitting there for, and had apparently
counted on the result. Without show
ing the slightest agitation, she merely
glanced in the barrel then took her
station on the exact spot that the black
hen had quit. Since then they have
exchanged places several times evident
ly thoroughly satisfied with their CO.
operative method.
SHORE than once | have hal occa-
sion to notice the quiet resignation
and patience of a sitting her under
the most adverse circumstances. For
instance, | have known one to sit our
the whole three weeks with another
hen calmly seated upon her back.
have seen this not infrequently, and
vain have been my endeavors TO put
stop to it, until at last have found
it nee ssary to imprison the intrnding
hen. In sone cases, the intruder
would conset to sit by herself when
nest was prepared for her, but more
frequently, like Rachel, she has re-
fused to be comfort, and covld not be
cajoled into any other occupation.
Sometimes if the original occupant
is of a good disposition, and offers the
visitor an opportunity, the latter will
decend from her high station and share
the work side by side, as related above
but there are occasions when just moth
ing but pure cnssedness seems to ami
ra'e her, and she is then as obstinate
as IA balkv mule