Show EGG STEALING HENS rowls fowl that purloin the contents content of their neighbors neighbor I 1 nests et in capt beneires Ben dires life histories of north american birds the hen of the canada grouse is reported as a confirmed egg thief A number of these birds bird 9 were observed in captivity to rob one ano an t hers others nests frequently two hens had their nests near together about two feet apart and as each laid every other day one nest would be vacant while ahse the other was occupied the hen that laid last would not go away until she had stolen the nest egg from the other nest and placed it in her own A hen was once seen to attempt to steal an egg from another aest twenty 7 feet beet distant she worked for hall half an hour or so but did not succeed in moving the coveted egg more than eight feet the way being uphill the egg escaped her and rolled back a toot oot f or two so often that she gave up the task in disgust one evening the observer found one hen on the nest and knew that she was beginning to set as all the other hens had gone to roost slipping his hand under her he found three eggs the nest egg an egg she had bad just laid and one stolen from a neighbor ing aest he took two out and heid them before her when she placed her bill over one and tried to pull it out of his hand As he refused to let her have it she he placed her bill over oer the remaining egg and pushed it back out of sight as I 1 much as to say you have two and that isau is all you can have she pleaded so hard for the other eggs that he took them away with much reluctance |