DOMESTIC LIFE 



It is quite likely that if a chick which has escaped 

 from its own creche joins another creche it will get 

 fed there, as it seems hardly possible for the adults 

 to recognize the individuals of so large a gathering 

 and to detect a stranger should one turn up, but 

 there is good reason to believe that the old birds 

 work for their own creches only, and remain faith- 

 ful to them for the rest of the season, because, as 

 they make their way across the rookery, laden with 

 the food they are bringing from the sea, it is sadly 

 common to see them pursued by strayed and 

 starving youngsters, plaintively piping their prayers 

 for a meal ; and these appeals are always made in 

 vain, the old birds turning a deaf ear to the 

 youngsters, who at last, weary and weak, give up 

 the pursuit, and in the end fall a prey to the ever- 

 watchful skuas. Further evidence is found in the fact 

 that the chicks at the very back of the rookery and 

 up at the top of the Cape are just as well nourished 

 as those nearer the water, who are constantly passed 

 by a stream of food-laden parents. 



Twice already I have mentioned that strayed 

 chicks fall a prey to "hooligan" cocks. These 

 hang about the rookery often in little bands. At 

 the beginning of the season there are very few of 

 them, but later they increase greatly, do much 



G 97 



