Feedixg axd Protection of Young Birds. 113 



luive a dry place to sit on and sun themselves in 

 after getting tired of the water, to Avhich they take, 

 one by one, almost directly they leave the shell. 



Where big families prevail, as in the case 

 of the Common Partridge, the male helps the 

 female to cover the chicks. A friend of mine, who 

 is a man with a wide experience, says that the 

 adidt birds always sit close together tail to tail 

 when thus engaged. Personally I have onlv had 

 the good fortune to see such a sight once, and I 

 shall never forget it. The Itirds were crouchino- in 

 the middle of a bare patch in a bed of stunted 

 bracken, and I got within three or four yards of 

 them before they saw me. The parent birds were 

 sitting close together, aUhough not quite tail to 

 tail, and seven or eight little heads, with their 

 bonny bright eyes, were thrust inquiringly irom 

 beneath the plumage of each. I stared and stared 

 my fill at this unusual sight, and then slowly 

 withdrew without disturbing the hap2)y family. 



The male members of some species will, in 

 addition to assisting to look after fledgelings, sit 

 upon the nest and help to keep the callow brood 

 warm and dry during the absence of their mates; 

 and 1 have seen a Blackbird exchange the proud 

 occupation of piping mellow notes on the topmost 

 branch of a tall ash-tree for this kind of feminine 

 duty. 



The question of finding an adequate supply of 

 suitable food for a large family of hungry chicks 

 I 



