102 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



from her breast and stomach. More rarely she 

 establishes herself in some large tree where she 

 makes use of a nest abandoned by the magpie. The 

 rude structure of dry sticks is restored, and 

 especially is it well lined with fine feathers plucked 

 from her own body. The eggs are laid in March and 

 number about fifteen. Incubation takes thirty-one 

 days. Whenever the need of food makes her leave 

 the nest for a few minutes, the mother takes care 

 to cover the eggs with a thick layer of down, so that 

 they shall not become cold. When she comes back 

 it is never in a straight line or uninterrupted flight. 

 She alights at some distance from the nest, then cau- 

 tiously approaches by tortuous windings, varied 

 every time and calculated to baffle whoever may be 

 watching her. 



"The young ones are born clothed with a delicate 

 fur of yellow down, which they keep for some time. 

 As soon as hatched, the brood is led to the water 

 and abandons the nest, never to return to it. If 

 the pond is too far away for such young legs, or if 

 the nest is at the top of some tall oak, the father 

 and mother take the little ones tenderly by the nape 

 of the neck and carry them one by one to the shore. 

 The removal accomplished, the mother goes into the 

 water, the boldest one of her brood follows her, and 

 the others imitate its example. Their aquatic educa- 

 tion immediately begins. In order to swim you must 

 do so and so, are the parents' instructions; and to 

 dive and tack about you must do like this. The tad- 

 pole, that dainty morsel, is caught in this manner, 



