210 BIRD LIFE GLIMPSES 



parental activities of the male, were he to take 

 his part in incubation, but leave the young to the 

 female. I do not know if there is any species of 

 bird, where the cock acts in this way. Perhaps it 

 may be impossible to answer these, or similar, ques- 

 tions, but light might, conceivably, be thrown upon 

 them by a more extensive knowledge of the relative 

 parts played by the male and female bird in nidifica- 

 tion, incubation, and the rearing of the young, 

 throughout a large number of species. These, 

 however, are not the questions with which ornitho- 

 logists busy themselves. By turning to a natural 

 history of British birds, one can always find how 

 many eggs are laid by any species, their coloration 

 often illustrated by costly plates and when and 

 where the laying takes place ; but in regard to the 

 matters above-mentioned or, indeed, most other 

 matters little or no information is forthcoming. 

 One might think that such works were written for 

 the assistance of bird-nesters only, and whether they 

 are or not, that is the end which they, principally, 

 fulfil. I believe, myself, that if the habits 

 especially the breeding habits of but one species in 

 every group or genus had been thoroughly studied, 

 so that we knew, not only what it did, but how it 

 did it, the result would make an infinitely more 

 valuable work, even in regard to British birds only, 

 than any now in existence, though all the other 

 species were left out of it, and little or nothing was 

 said about the number of eggs, their coloration, and 

 the time at which they were laid. 



If the male bird has only caught the habit of 

 feeding the young from the female, we can the better 



