Bird Life in a Suburban Parish 



10.5 



past. Its youiii*" are e(}iially adepts at liidino- from the 

 iHomeiit tliey are well out of the et4'«>'. 'I'hey will croueh 

 and hide in any hole and eranny, and remain perfectly 

 motionless until told by the parent-bird that the coast is 

 clear. One I cau<^ht, not more than a day or two old. on 

 beino" released, dived undei" some crowfoot in shallow watei% 

 keepini»- its head under so lon^^- that to save its life I fished 

 it oirt again. Then, replacint>- it in the water, I took out 



Ringed Plover i^^-Egialitis Itiaticiila), photographed at Enfield 

 Sewage-farm. 



my watch and timed it while it dived aoain, aiid found it 

 could remain perfectly sul^merged for sixty seconds. At 

 the end of this time it came up, oasping- for breath, but 

 dived a()-ain directly afterwards. 



Several broods are hatched durino- the summer, and the 

 half-oTown youno- of the first will assist in feeding the freshly 

 hatched young of the second brood. To accommodate the 

 young birds, the parents generally make a second nest. This 

 is often composed of green weeds, built up in shallow water 



