86 WITH THE U. S. NATURALISTS 



land, their eyes don't open for a week after they 

 are hatched and they can't leave the nest for a 

 month or six weeks. The savage Hawks and the 

 greedy Crows hatch naked birds, and even wild 

 sea-birds like the Gannets have altricial young. 



''Compare that helplessness with Ostrich chicks, 

 the most precocious of all birds. They have a full 

 coat of quill-like feathers when hatched and can 

 run about briskly the moment they leave the egg. 

 They'll run, sometimes, before the egg-shell has 

 dropped off their backs. They are able to pick up 

 food at once. A Duckling, a few minutes out of 

 the egg, can swim about on the water, paddling 

 with his feet. Chickens may be heard 'cheeping' 

 while still in the shell. Most Water-birds, on 

 hatching, swam with ease in deep water, though 

 they have to be taught to dive. An hour or two 

 after birth a young Sandpiper can run like a race- 

 horse, and a Partridge chick can jump over an ob- 

 stacle four times its own height when only a cou- 

 ple of days old. ' ' 



This conversation brought them to the clearing, 

 and there Shan halted and looked at his new 

 friend. 



' ' This is Bull 's place, ' ' he said. ' ' If you '11 just 

 wait a minute, I'll bring out the boxes with my 



