Ornithological and Other Oddities 



of these birds, the parents had divided the young 

 between them at first, and then one had left the 

 pond altogether for a time. The chicks were 

 both hunting on the surface for themselves, but 

 while the smaller one was fed by the old bird, the 

 larger's appeal for food was refused. The poor 

 little thing did its best, but it did not seem to 

 understand diving for food, and ultimately per- 

 sisted in coming ashore and lying down in 

 despair. I took it indoors and fed it, but it 

 died next day, and the absolute absence of fat on 

 the little body pointed too clearly to starvation as 

 the cause of death ; it was feathered nearly all 

 over, but the quills were still growing in the 

 wings. 



As soon as ever the wing-quills grew, the 

 young used to disappear, except the Benjamin 

 of the brood, which was allowed to remain for 

 months, in one case even until it attained full 

 breeding plumage, and its parents had hatched 

 another family. The final departure seemed to 

 be always made by night, as I never saw more 

 than very short flights taken by day, even when 

 the young bird was being hunted by an indignant 

 parent. 



One very remarkable weakness in the dabchick 

 appears to be its inability to deal with floods. It 

 certainly cannot foresee them, and even continued 

 heavy rain does not induce it to raise its nest as 



