6. Hens do not always agree, and sometimes they are badly treated by one another, as is shown in this story:
7. An old hen had been sitting on a nest full of eggs, in a quiet place in the garden, until they were nearly ready to hatch. One day she left her nest a few moments to get something to eat, and, while she was gone, a bantam hen, on the watch, took possession of it.
8. When the real mother came back, she was in great distress; but the bantam kept the nest, and in a few days hatched out as many of the eggs as she could cover.
9. She then strutted about at the head of her company of chickens, and passed them off upon her feathered friends as her own.
10. Hens are usually timid, and they run or fly away when they see any danger. But in defence of their chicks they are often very bold.
11. A rat one day went into a chicken-house where there was a brood of young chickens. The old hen pounced upon him, and a fierce battle took place.
12. The rat soon had enough of it, and tried to get away; but the hen kept at him until one of the family came and killed him.
13. One day a sparrow-hawk flew down into a farm-yard to catch a chicken. A cock about a year old at once darted at him and threw him on his back.
14. While lying there he could defend himself with his talons and beak; but when he rose and tried to take wing, the cock rushed at him and upset him the second time.
15. The hawk by this time thought more of getting away than he did of his dinner; but the cock kept him down until somebody came and caught him.