THE LAKE IN THE VALLEY 139 



quite able to climb on to their father's 

 back, and he took them for short 

 journeys from the nest, and caught small 

 fish for them. Sometimes they made 

 themselves comfortable under his wings, 

 and he was able to dive with them in 

 this position and carry them quite long dis- 

 tances under the water. At the slightest 

 sign of danger, he gave a short note 

 which they very soon learnt to obey, and 

 instantly scrambled under his wings, and 

 just a few ripples on the water showed 

 where he had gone down. These two 

 young birds seemed to be his own 

 special property, and his mate continued 

 to sit for another three days. At the 

 end of this time two more fluffy babies 

 arrived, and the hen took charge of 

 these. They did not return to the nest, 

 although one egg was left in it. For 

 many weeks the parents looked after the 

 young, and it was very interesting to 

 note how the two young birds which left 



