44 THE HOME-LIFE OF 



eye to tell of the vigil she was keeping. For full twenty 

 minutes not one muscle relaxed, nor a blink crossed her 

 eye. Had I been guilty of stealing her eggs I must 

 have withered under that unending stare. Little by 

 little she approached, at each stage "freezing'' motionless, 

 until again convinced that all was still, when another few 

 steps were taken, followed by another interminable stare, 

 and so on till finally she reached the bush, and stood 

 statue-like above the nest, never glancing at the struggling 

 chicks vainly trying to reach her, but glaring stonily at 

 the camera. This was really too much for them, and 

 then wild excitement, as usual, soon turned into so fierce 

 a struggle that it seemed an eye or two must surely go. 

 The largest were soon on top, and seizing each other by 

 the bill fought savagely for the mastery (Plate 29), 

 pounding on the smaller ones the while. The frightened 

 head of one of these down-trodden unfortunates is just 

 discernible above the nest-edge and between the two 

 combatants. To do them justice I was never quite 

 certain whether they attacked each other purely through 

 spite and bad temper, or in their wildly excited state 

 mistook each other for mother, and were vainly trying to 

 get food. On the whole the latter seems the more probable 

 motive, especially as these actions were the same as those 

 with which their parent was received ! 



All at once the stiff statue-like bird above them relaxed 

 her vigil, she was satisfied, and letting her beautiful 

 plumage fall loosely about her, and with an air of easy 

 contentment, she stepped down on to the nest and stood 

 there admiring its ugly contents (Plate 30). 



Few birds, other than Owls, can so totally change their 

 appearance by the contraction or expansion of their 

 feathers. One moment she was standing stiff and 

 awkward, more like the handiwork of some third-rate 

 taxidermist than of Nature, the next she was a creature 

 full of graceful curves and soft rich colour. Even the 

 cold staring eye had now assumed a more kindly expression. 



