252 BOMBAY DUCKS 



species. In the Madras Museum there is an exhibit of 

 a coppersmith's nest which was cut in a casuarina tree. 

 The exhibit shows a young hopeful, looking out of the 

 nest, with a wide-open beak, its invariable attitude when 

 it catches sight of its parents. In nature, young birds 

 do not, I think, as a rule, put their heads so far out of 

 the nest, but the fact that the bird in the Museum does 

 so has the advantage of enabling one to see that in 

 plumage it differs from the adult in the absence of the 

 crimson patches on the head and breast ! 



