200



Dr. A. G. Butler,



to remove lier as soon as the cock sits, or at any rate as soon as

the young have emerged, until they have become independent:

then, at the age of three to four weeks they must be caught out

and the old birds reunited.


Entrancing is Mr. Hauth’s representation of the behaviour

of his first breeding-pair after the young were hatched : —


“ The hen approached the little one; then the cock

rushed off with it to hide it under its feathers: or the hen ran

towards him in amicable fashion to frustrate his intention, and

then quickly back again to the chick, spreading its wings over

the latter. Clearly he had not much faith in her peaceful

intentions.


On the following day the hen ventured to approach quite

close, yet he continually strove to protect the chick. It was

most exciting when, on the third day, he led it towards the

female; whereupon the latter was palpably delighted and

welcomed it with gentle sounds and soft tremours ; still he could

not yet suffer the young one to w r arm itself under her, but

pecked it carefully and gently away.


After the expiration of about a week, the hen first led and

fed the young one with equal solicitude to that of the male.

From the first hour she was a pattern of love, attention, and

gentleness towards the little chick : she never let it out of her

sight, called it softly grue, grue, led it to the water and food, kept

it, at each step, close under her warm abdominal feathers. The

young one at first greatly needed the warmth; if it did not

obtain it immediately, it piped loud, and was not silent again

until it felt itself covered. When some days old its gentle piping

sounded like the twittering of several young tiny birds. I am

convinced that in the observation of such family life in birds

consists the greatest delight, and at the same time the best solace

for the manifold toil in our hobby.


The feeding up of the young differed during the first eight

days from that of other fowls, for instance from that of Quails.

Whereas these, from the first day of their existence, are capable

of picking their food from the ground unaided ; the male offers

the young Hemipode first an ant’s egg, then a tiny seed which

it has seized with the point of its bill ; at the same time gently



