148 THE STORY OF BIRD-LIFE. 



certain that they neither do nor can watch them. 

 The e^gs beiug deposited by a number of hens 

 in succession in the same hole would render i'^ 

 impossible for each to distinguish its own ; and 

 the food necessary for such large birds (con- 

 sisting entirely of fallen fruits) can only be 

 obtained by roaming over an extensive district, 

 so that if the numbers of birds which came 

 down to this single beach in the breeding-season, 

 amounting to many hundreds, were obliged to 

 remain in the vicinity, many would perish of 

 hunger.'' 



The chick is remarkable in that it is hatched 

 covered with curious feathers, diifering somewhat 

 from the nestling down of other birds, and from 

 the feathers worn at a later date. The quill- 

 feathers are so long and well-developed that 

 the young are able to fly at birth ! This occurs 

 in no other bird. 



The object of the present chapter has been not 

 to bring together a collection of curious facts 

 regarding nests, but rather to illustrate how 

 rich in variety, and vigorous in force, is the life 

 of the birds during this phase of their existence 

 — the period of nidification. By the intelligence 

 they display at this time we have an indication 

 of the height to which they have risen in the 

 scale of evolution. 



The question which most naturally arises here 

 is, how did this habit of building nests arise 1 



AVe may take it, I think, as an approximately 

 correct guess at the truth, that the earliest birds 

 laid their eggs upon the bare ground and hatched 

 them out, partly by the aid of the sun, and partly 



