Nest Inspection Dolly has been gone perhaps a minute or so, maybe less; but still she inspects her eggs carefully upon her return. Even the dedicated canary hen must leave her nest occasionally - often the male will feed her while she is on the nest, so the main task is a once-or-twice a day evacuation of her waste. The canary hen has evolved to allow her to hold a much larger quantity of feces than is seen in the youngsters or the males, once she has laid her eggs - this allows her to stay on the nest for longer periods of time than would otherwise be possible.

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