vi THE DOMESTIC LIFE OF ANIMALS 



121 



Consider the cunning often displayed in leaving or 

 approaching the nest, in removing debris which would 

 betray the whereabouts of the young, or in distracting 

 attention to a safe distance ; remember, too, that some 

 birds will shift either eggs or young to a new resting- 

 place when extreme danger threatens ; estimate the 

 energy spent in feeding the brood, sometimes on a diet 



FIG. 36. NEST OF TAILOR-BIRD (Orthotomns benettii). 



(After Brehm.) 



quite different from that of adult life ; and acknowledge 

 that the parental instinct is very deeply rooted, since 

 birds (of both sexes) that have lost their young ones have 

 been known to foster others. Listen to the bird which 

 has been bereaved: is not the "lone singer wonderful, 

 causing tears " ? 



The female of the Indian and African hornbill nests in 

 a hole in a tree, the entrance to which she plasters up 

 so that no room is left either for exit or entrance. The 



