224 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xv. 



times kept up for two or three minutes without a break. 

 The whimpering of the young is very similar and might 

 possibly be mistaken for it in certain circumstances, but 

 it is very soft, and uttered at a much quicker rate. As the 

 young matured, however, it grew both slower and louder. 

 Then, lying in the hide only seven feet from the nest, it was 

 difficult at times to distinguish between the note of the 

 young close at hand and the distant note of the mother. 

 There is in addition the soft " tick " of both birds on landing 

 at the nest. 



From beginning to end I never saw the mother attempt 

 to brood her young. No matter whether it thundered and 

 poured rain in buckets, day and night they were left to 

 themselves. At such times when quite young, they would 

 huddle together, all four quite symmetrically arranged, 

 breast to breast, four doleful little heads making a dome at 

 the top while the rain coursed down their backs in little 

 runnels through the matted down. At night they also 

 huddled together, but just anyhow. There was no definite 

 arrangement. Now and then one would have a final spasm 

 of preening, and for a moment one would see a large beady 

 eye shining out from some corner of the soft downy pile. 

 But as night fell all movement would cease. With the 

 earliest streak of dawn, first one head and then another 

 would jerkily appear, and one by one the owners would 

 waddle to different corners of the nest and begin preening. 

 I never saw them fed earlier than half-past six and mostly 

 it was much later. The long wait was regularly spent in a 

 clean-up. In fact, this was their favourite occupation 

 throughout the day. 



In spite of the fact that the mother never broods her 

 young, she is a most faithful parent. Up to the time that 

 the young began to fly I never knew her to be out of sight. 

 Day and night without a break, except when the cock brought 

 food, or a human being was in sight, she sat keeping a faithful 

 watch over the family from one of her pet boulders. The 

 nearest of these (but seldom used) was about forty yards 

 away. She was most frequently to be seen on one about 

 eighty yards distant. Here she would sit sometimes for 

 two hours on end without stirring. Occasionally she would 

 preen, but always was she wide awake and keeping an un- 

 ceasing watch on the surrounding country. If one of the 

 keepers chanced along she would rise and fly to and fro, 

 " Keking " loudly. If he made his way to the hide for a 

 chat and stayed any length of time, she would apparently 



