33 



One family composed of the parents and two 

 youngsters interested me in particular, for it used 

 to visit me with unfailing regularity at the break- 

 fast hour. The father seemed to hold aloof, but the 

 other three were inseparables. The young birds were 

 quite as big as the mother but were easily distinguish- 

 able from her. In them the grey feathers of the neck 

 are less' sharply differentiated from the black than is 

 the case with adult birds ; and the inside of the 

 mouth is red. 



The young birds were exceedingly noisy. They 

 squawked without intermission. They entertained 

 the theory that the sole raison d'etre of the mother 

 was to feed them, and their theory is strictly in 

 accordance with the dicta of zoology. They followed 

 their mother everywhere, and behaved like, what 

 they were, spoiled children. 



Whenever the mother managed to secure a piece 

 of food, they would try to snatch it away from her. 

 The mother would ruffle her feathers and sidle away 

 from her too-importunate children ; then, to the 

 disgust of these, she would swallow, or, at any rate, 

 half-swallow, the morsel of food. 



