BIRD PROBLEMS 221 



wires, which were the means of killing thousands of 

 birds when first erected. Tree-builders, whose 

 nests have been rifled, build succeeding ones in more 

 inaccessible situations. In their nests chaffinches 

 so nearly imitate the lichened boles against which 

 they are built as quite to deceive the eye. It is 

 doubtless owing to this fact that the species is 

 perhaps the second commonest among British birds. 

 Before leaving the nest, dabchicks paddle upon their 

 white eggs until they resemble the mud and ooze 

 about them; and most game birds when they leave 

 their nests voluntarily cover their eggs with dead 

 leaves, as wild ducks do with reeds. 



A remarkable case of something very nearly akin 

 to reason is exhibited by a family of birds the eggs 

 of which are hatched by the heat generated in earthen 

 mounds specially constructed for the purpose. 

 Whilst incubation is proceeding the parent birds 

 stay in the vicinity of the mound and anxiously 

 watch over its safety. Immediately upon hatching, 

 the young feed themselves, run, fly, roost on trees 

 and are able to live quite independently. All this 

 is remarkable enough, but especially the part played 

 by the parent. She stays by the mound, waiting 

 to lead the tiny megapodes to the scrub, and then 

 her maternal duties are over. With regard to the 

 perfect state in which the birds are born, Mr Gould 

 says, " As a moth emerges from a chrysalis, dries its 



