



FIRST APPEARANCES OP BIRDS, INSECTS, ETC. 203 



about a quarter of an hour longer, "stood 

 out to sea," having apparently again deserted 

 the babe. I then crawled out of the tent 

 and rescued the chick, a not easy task having 

 regard to its tenderness and the exceedingly 

 uncompromising prickles of the furzebush. 

 The chick was not so feeble as he had been 

 after his long immersion, so I deposited him in 

 the nest by aid of a long forked stick and returned 

 to my tent just as the male came back. The 

 bird had a good hunt for the chick where he had 

 last seen it, but seemed unable to penetrate 

 the furzebush. Three times altogether he 

 hunted for the chick and then returned to the 

 nest. The surprise of the male was only 

 equalled by the vigour with which the 

 chick made its way under the parental 

 wing. 



3.30 female arrived ; and, as she approached, the 

 male quitted with the young bird under its wing ; 

 but this time he sailed off without diving. 

 The female quitted her incubation about 

 every twenty minutes, and would go down to 

 pond and would say " queek " * ; the male 

 bird would reply " queek " w , whereafter the 

 female would return and do a little more incu- 

 bation. I never heard either bird speak loudly 

 near the nest. 



June 13 I walked up to see how the dabchicks had got 

 on. One of the birds quitted the nest after 

 covering it. The chick I found in the weeds 

 near the entrance to the gully, and, judging 

 by his cries, he seemed none the worse for his 

 adventures. 



June 16 The nest contained one egg uncovered and 

 addled." (E.H.C.) 



