156 THE STORY OF BIRD-LIFE. 



four. Since the young of both run almost as 

 soon as they are hatched, we are admonished to 

 exercise caution in generalising as to the size of 

 the egg and the condition of the young at birth. 

 In the main, however, the remarks made on this 

 point hold good. 



We have seen something of our feathered 

 friends during the period of courtship when 

 they appear perhaps at their best, we have 

 followed them through the first period of their 

 trial — the building of the nest — and we have 

 incidentally got a glimpse of them at a stage 

 later still — the period of incubation. We have 

 already, in this present chapter, briefly surveyed 

 the various forms, colours, numbers, and so on, 

 of the eggs these nests were made to contain, 

 and now we are about to pass on to see how 

 birds acquit themselves as parents. 



In all but a few exceptional cases the bulk of 

 the work of incubation and feeding the young 

 falls upon the female. When not actually sitting 

 on the eggs, or feeding, she sits near and watches 

 them with the tender care and solicitude that has 

 become synonymous with the name of mother. 

 For example, the female osprey (a fish-eating 

 bird of prey), which is in the habit of leaving 

 her eggs for a short time each day exposed to 

 the sunlight, has been seen to plunge headlong 

 into the lake below, and rising to shake her 

 dripping plumage over her treasures lest too 

 much heat should injure them. Having done 

 which she returned to her perch to meditate. 



Among the ducks, the building of the nest, the 

 hatching of the eggs and the feeding of the young, 



