128 THE LIFE OF A BIRD. 



it is not hastily placed on when quitting the nest. 

 " It must be a work of time/' he continues, " to 

 do it ; and the covering is allowed to remain, the 

 bird performing her duties of incubation upon the 

 top of it, a situation I have sometimes surprised 

 them in, when plump ! in a second, they go into 

 the water, and 'are seen no more, leaving behind 

 them no more appearance of a nest than a lump of 

 weeds. Upon these occasions I have often found 

 both the eggs and the coverin quite warm, the 

 former far advanced toward hatching." Another 

 writer on the habits of the same bird states, that 

 he never saw a nest not deserted left uncovered ; 

 and that the covering almost invariably con- 

 sists of freshly-gathered weeds. He had often 

 seen the parent bird pecking away right and left, 

 and then slip quietly off the nest as he drew near. 



The object which birds have in view whenever 

 they adopt this mano2uvre is not certainly in all 

 cases the same. It appears as if, in some instances, 

 the intention is to preserve the temperature of the 

 eggs, and for this purpose the materials used ap- 

 pear well adapted. 



It has been suggested, with reference to the 

 dabchick, that, in addition to motives of conceal- 



