Feeding and Protection of Young Birds. 93 



thought and action of one or both parents is for 

 the welfare of their offspring, as I hope to show 

 daring the cotirse of the present chapter by retail- 

 insf a few of the interestino- thino^s I have seen 

 during my rambles in bird land. 



The young of different species vary to an in- 

 credible extent when they emerge from the shell, 

 in development, in appearance, and in intelligence. 

 Those of Blackbirds, Thrushes, Sparrows, Larks, 

 and similar birds, have their eyes closed, very little 

 down upon their bodies, and only enough sense to 

 open their mouths in dumb appeal for food, and 

 they remain in their nests from a week to a fortnight 

 after they are hatched. On the other hand, baby 

 Plovers, Sandpipers, and Curlews arrive open-eyed, 

 with a thick coat of down all over their bodies, 

 leave the nest directly they are hatched, and possess 

 such an instinctive knowledge of the Avorld and its 

 ways that, even an hour after they have tirst seen 

 the light of day, if a Hawk passes overhead they 

 crouch Hat and trust to escaping discovery and 

 destruction by means of the varying tints of the 

 upper parts of their dress corresponding with their 

 natural surroundings. Our illustrations on the 

 next two pages show how well this harmonisation of 

 colour can protect a tiny Peewit crouching Hat in 

 a tield. Three yards away it is almost impossible 

 to see the creature until it stands up and com- 

 mences to move about. 



Common Curlews breed in great numbers on the 



