16 LEAVES FROM THE 



them/ as the old wives say, carefully, till these lower ex- 

 tremities, which are, iu the nestlings of the gallinaceous 

 tribe, first well developed, shall be sufficiently strong to 

 carry them in search of food and out of danger. The 

 hen, in this instance, finds that her Garagantua of a chick 

 cannot walk, and therefore goes on cherishing it and sit- 

 ting close over it. I saw it fed about tlii'ee o'clock in the 

 afternoon upon part of a young rabbit, nearly the whole 

 of which it had consumed in the course of yesterday and 

 to-day. "^lien brought out it shivered its callow wings 

 and opened its mouth like other nestlings, but it then 

 uttered no cry. It made much use of the tongue in taking 

 the food and in deglutition. 



On my return from making these observations I went 

 to look at the old condors. Military bands were plajdng, 

 and the wind was very high. Both birds were very much 

 excited, the male especially. He spread and flapped his 

 wings, pursuing the female, as she walked backwards 

 from him, with his beak opposite and close to hers, and 

 gesticulating vehemently and oddly. 



Tlie next entry is a sad one : — 



July 21, 1846. — The young condor, after thii^dng well 

 to all appearance, died this morning. The good hen, 

 which had been most attentive to it to the last, seemed 

 to miss it much. The cry of the young condor resembled 

 the squeak of a rat, and the dwelling-place of the hen and 

 her charge was infested by those predaceous rodents. 

 Sometimes they would squeak, and then the bereaved 

 foster-mother would approach the hole whence the squeak 

 proceeded, listen, and abide there clucking, as if in hoi^e 

 of seeing her charge come forth. 



In this case I was struck with the modification of in- 

 stinct, or rather of the adjunct of something closely re- 

 sembling a reasonmg power, on the part of the hen. In 

 general, as soon as the davs of her incubation are fulfilled 

 the hen leaves the nest, if the eggs are addled, or have 



