NORTH AMERICAN MARSH BIRDS 7 



50 birds. The individual, therefore, which incubated or cared for the young dur- 

 ing the day fed at night, while the one which had been feeding during the day 

 passed the night in the rookery. There was no relation between se.\ and the 

 time of day occupied in parental duties, both sexes being represented during the 

 day and hence, doubtless, during the night also. 



As the egg pipped the parent bird was seen to stand over it and move it with 

 the bill until the opening was uppermost, thus giving the hatching chick access 

 to the air. When incubating, as well as when brooding, the bird sits upon the 

 nest with the legs folded. In assuming this position, the bird first stands upon 

 the nest with its toes on the rim, then drops forward, the toes remaining at 

 about the same point, while the heel projects slightly beyond the tail, and the 

 tarsus is visible for the entire length. In arising the bill is pressed into the side 

 of the nest and for a moment thus forms a tripod with the legs. 



The young flamingo when hatched is sufficiently developed to leave the nest 

 before it is dry, under the stimulus of an apparently instinctive fear. At my 

 approach young birds with their plumage still wet from the egg would crawl 

 over the edge of the nest and fall to the ground or water below, when their 

 strength seemed to fail them. A few hours later, when the plumage was dry, 

 chicks could swim and run readily, and when they were a day old they invariably 

 left the nest as I drew near. When not disturbed the young remain in the nest 

 three or four days. During this time they are brooded by the parents. 



Their food consists of a blackish liquid, doubtless the juices of partially digested 

 Ceriiheuni, which they receive from the parent's bill, a drop at a time by regur- 

 gitation. The parent administers food while standing over the chick with lowered 

 head and neck, or while brooding it, when the head of the young appears from 

 beneath the parent's wing between the body and the humerus. Food was gen- 

 erally given in response to the young bird's open-mouthed appeal, and its admin- 

 istration was preceded by movements of the neck which evidently assisted the 

 act of regurgitation. 



While in the nest the young bird eats also the shell of the egg from which it 

 was hatched. This soon becomes broken into small pieces which are readily 

 picked up by the then straight-billed chick, doubtless with greater facility than 

 its bent-billed parent could exhibit. This shell-eating habit appears to be invari- 

 able. Numerous chicks were seen exhibiting it, and eggshells were found in the 

 stomachs of nearly 20 young examined. Possibly the development of this habit 

 may be due to the limited nature of the parent's food, together with the fact 

 that heavy rains may not only place the chick upon an islet but submerge avail- 

 able feeding areas. Consequently it is imjiortant that the food furnished by the 

 parent be supplemented by a supply of bone-forming material which the chick 

 finds in the nest. The young bird evidently continues under the care of the 

 parent after leaving the nest and, for a time at least, is still fed by regurgitation. 

 Young birds two days old, which jumped from their nests near my blind as I 

 entered it, found their way home in response to the call of the parent and climbed 

 back into the nest with the aid of bill, wings, and feet, without assistance from 

 the parent. When not guided by the parent, chicks which had left the nest 

 prematurely and were attempting to return to it, apparently recognized neither 

 their nest nor parent. They endeavored to cUmb up the nearest nest on which 

 an adult was sitting, but were not welcomed; threatening, sinuous gestures of 

 the long neck being followed, should the chick persist, by a slight nip on the nape, 

 when the lost young bird continued in its search for home. 



Young birds which he took away from the rookery alive and 

 attempted to raise in captivity lived long enough to throw some light 

 on their habits and development. He (1904) writes: 



