108 



FISH HATCHING. 



a question. "I was -walking alongside my 

 river/' said he, " when I found a moorhen's 

 nest in the rushes. I took up one of the 

 eggs and broke it, and out came a young 

 moorhen, who looked at me for an instant 

 and then swam away in the greatest haste. 

 Now I want to ask you, Mr. Buckland, how 

 it was that this moorhen chick knew that / 

 w^as not its mother '? " In a similar way, I 

 want to know how it is that these tiny water- 

 babies, who are as yet not much more than 

 hardened jelly, should know who is their 

 enemy and who is not. Their whole desire 

 seems to be to obtain concealment, and this 

 because instinct (implanted even in these 

 minute but beautiful little creatures) tells 

 them that if they wish to live they must 

 hide themselves the moment they are born. 



