FAMILY CARES — NURSERY DUTIES. 161 



the parents, and (2) those which are enabled to 

 leave the nest immediately after birth. 



Those of the first group are born blind and 

 often naked. One may roughly divide the mem- 

 bers of this group into four separate sections : — 



1. Th'se born clothed in a thick coat of 



downy feathers, such as hawks, owls, 

 and petrels. 



2. Those born naked or almost naked, but 



which rapidly develop a downy cover- 

 ing, such as the herons and storks and 

 gannets. 



3. Those born naked but which never develop 



more than a few dark down feathers 

 in no wi^e capable of covering the body, 

 such as the crows. 



4. Those born naked and never developing 



any kind of nestling down whatsoever, 



such as kingfishers, hornbills, swifts, 



woodpeckers, and humming-birds. 



The nestling down is of two types, one or 



both of which may be present at the same time. 



The first kind is that which is followed by 



feathers ; the second, that which is followed 



by down. The second is sometimes absent in 



young birds, — as in ducks ; — and sometimes 



forms the greater part of the clothing of the 



body at this time. 



The nestlings of the second group are all born 

 with their eyes open and clothed with nestling 

 down, which is sometimes hard to distinguish 

 from the feathers ; they run soon after they are 

 hatchtr-d. Such are chickens, ducks, geese and 

 swans, plovers, cranes, and so on. 



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