One mother hen had her own brood of fluffy little chicks ([Fig. 334]). When they were old enough they scratched for worms and ate gravel as obediently as any one could desire. How happy they were underneath the hemlocks in the long afternoons!
Fig. 335. Mother hen and baby ducks.
The other mother hen had to take care of ducks ([Fig. 335]). Pretty as any chicks they were, but troublesome as only little ducks can be with a nervous old hen for their adopted mother. The family in the picture looks very contented. Do you suppose that the photographer told them to look pleasant? When we come to know ducks and chickens better, we shall learn why the little ducks are often such a trial to the hen mother.
It may be that when we ask boys and girls to study chickens and ducks they will say that there is nothing new to learn about them. I am not so sure. The freckled-faced boy thought he knew all about them, too. Let us see whether we can suggest some new things to think about, as you look over the fence into the poultry yard, or watch the cook preparing a hen or duck for the Thanksgiving dinner.
As I looked at the chickens in a barn-yard the other day, I was interested in the different kinds that I saw: some brown, some white, some black, some speckled; some had feathers on their feet, others had not; some had combs with many points, in others the comb was close to the head; some had long tails, some short tails, some no tails at all to speak of. If I were to name the differences that I noticed you would not get through reading them in time to write your November dues. How many unlike marks or characters can you find in chickens or ducks?
Have you ever seen two chickens or two ducks exactly alike?
Compare the feet of a hen and a duck. Their bills. Do you think that a duck can scratch for worms?
What do ducks eat? What kind of food do hens like best?
How do a hen's feathers differ from a duck's?