302 THE BIOLOGY OF BIRDS 



In his " Habit and Instinct," Professor Lloyd Morgan comes 

 to the conclusion that " nest-building in definite ways is an 

 instinctive activity ; but that it is modifiable by individual 

 experience." 



The " false nests " made by various birds are probably 

 due to sHght aberrations or exuberances of the nesting 

 instinct. It seems too generous to interpret them as de- 

 liberate devices for leading enemies astray. The so-called 

 " cocks' nests " of redshanks are " little depressions scrabbed 

 out on the ground with a few bits of rushes and grass roughly 

 arranged in them. They look like the work of a 'prentice 

 hand — of a redshank who was lacking in experience, and 

 was trying to get his ' hand in ' before taking to the serious 

 work of nest-building." 



It is interesting to notice the psychological change that 

 marks many birds during the nesting time. Round about a 

 strong colony of Black-Headed Gulls at the time of brooding 

 the visitor is met by little troups which do not disguise their 

 displeasure. Redshanks, surely of a more pacific tempera- 

 ment, fly to meet the intruder and sweep close by him quite 

 fearlessly. 



§ 3. Feeding the Young 



Those young birds that are hatched at an advanced stage 

 of development (Praecoces), as in the case of lapwing and 

 chicks, begin very early to fend for themselves. Yet every 

 one is familiar with the way a hen calls her chickens to the 

 morsels she scratches up, and many have watched a swan 

 feeding the cygnets with weed from the bottom of the lake. 

 But when the young birds are hatched as helpless nestlings 

 (Insessores), the labour of feeding them is great. In the 

 majority of cases the male does more than his share, and it is 

 an interesting fact that some males, e.g. snipe, that absent 

 themselves during the brooding, return to duty when the 

 young are hatched. 



As it is important to realise that many living creatures 

 spend a large fraction of their time and energy in furt hering 



