110 INCREASE OF THE SQUABS. [CHAP. iv. 



feathers themselves much protruding. July 9th, weight 

 10 oz. ; only one parent attending to it. July llth, 

 weight 10 J oz. July 14th, 11 oz. July 16th, 11^ oz. 

 July 18th, llf oz.; the growth seemed now principally 

 directed to the quill feathers, which accounts for its less 

 rapid increase in weight. July 26th, the weight of the 

 squeaker was 12 J oz. ; it was capable of flying and feed- 

 ing itself, and only wanted strength and a little corro- 

 borative time, to be a perfect independent adult bird. 

 At the same date of July 26th, the weight of the Owl, 

 its male parent, was only ll^oz. ; so that, in about a 

 month, its own young one had exceeded it in weight. 

 It takes many quadrupeds several years to attain the 

 bulk of their parents; the chick of a common hen, at 

 the end of a month from hatching, is very far indeed 

 from equalling its mother in weight ; but in the case of 

 Pigeons, we have the enormous increment of growth 

 from half an ounce to twelve ounces and a quarter, 

 within that short period. The wonder is accounted 

 for by our knowledge that, for the first fortnight, the 

 chick has the assistance of two digestions in addition to 

 its own ; and that during the month it has to undergo 

 little or no exertion of body or brain, but merely to 

 receive a liberal supply of ready-prepared nutriment. 



In another case, a Powter mated to a Nun produced 

 one chick on the 16th of July, 1849. Its weight when 

 hatched was half an ounce. Its bill was not pink, but 

 tinged under the cuticle with a dark pigment; this 

 character it derived from its Nun parent. But on the 

 15th, another pair of Pigeons, both Powters, had hatch- 

 ed a couple of chicks, one perhaps during the previous 

 night, the other not till the middle of the day ; their 

 joint weight was then 1 oz. On the 16th, it had reach- 



