A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



it to the last. The carnivora too are indefatigable in their care of 

 their young. 



Among the birds, the Parrots should win our respect and liking 

 by the affection which they show to their mates. As Brehm observed, 

 these birds live in strict monogamy all their lives, and the two sexes 

 love one another deeply and faithfully. At pairing-time their 

 dependence on one another is intensified; everything they do is 

 done in common; they snuggle close together and overwhelm one 

 another with tender attentions. If either bird is shot the survivor 

 does not fly away, but falls a victim to its loyalty. Azara tells of a 

 Macaw that followed the body of its mate, who had been shot and 

 tied to a saddle, into the middle of a town ; when the dead bird 

 was placed on the ground the living bird fell upon it. For several 

 days the faithful creature remained beside the body, until at last 

 it was caught by hand. So profound is the Parrot's grief and longing 

 for its dead mate that its whole body trembles, and it pines away 

 and dies. In such cases Hebbel's words are the sober truth : the bird 

 does not feel grief, but is grief 



The young birds are included in this mutual love; the whole 

 family live only for one another, and the parents will defend their 

 young to the death. It is a striking characteristic of the Parrots, 

 that their need of loving is so great that in the absence of their own 

 kind they will extend their affection to quite alien species of animals, 

 and even to the human beings who tend them. This is especially 

 the case if a bird or animal has an accident and is crippled ; so that 

 not only love but compassion is natural to these birds. 



Birds and mammals occupy a special position in the animal kingdom 

 in respect of their forethought for their young. They live to see 

 their offspring born and grow up, and the latter are followed by 

 their parents until they can go their own way. In all the rest of the 

 animal kingdom, as we shall see, it is only by exception that the 

 parents and their offspring have any knowledge of one another. 

 The rule is, that when the parents do evince care for their offspring, 

 they show not solicitude but forethought. The mother makes such 

 dispositions on laying her eggs that her offspring, when they emerge, 

 will find food and shelter provided for them; after so doing she 

 leaves the spot, and as a rule has long been dead when the eggs arc 

 hatched and the young make their appearance. 



In the case of such actions we can no longer speak of parental 

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