ENTERPRISING DUCKLINGS 127 



of the New Zealand Weka Rail, the parents, which 

 are flightless ground-birds, have been seen running 

 to and fro until quite weary, plying with food their 

 young which they had left in a place of safety. 



Grebes, again, nursed on the parent's back and 

 fed there or on the nest for a week or so, come 

 very near being mere nestlings, and are very feeble 

 at first, unable- to do more than crawl, and un- 

 willing to swim; and the Swans' cygnets are not 

 nearly so active on land as goslings and ducklings, 

 though downy and swimmjng well enough ; and 

 as their parents carry them on their backs, at any 

 rate at times, and do something to feed them — the 

 Mute Swan, as is well known, pulling up weeds for 

 them, while the Black Swan, as I have seen, will 

 pull them grass from the bank — these young also 

 seem to approach nearer the nest-fostered type 

 than the active majority of the family. 



Indeed, the young of several members of this 

 group are much more active and enterprising than 

 their parents ; young Mallard frequently dive for 

 food like young Tufted Ducks and Pochards, even 

 up to the flapper-stage, though adults very seldom 

 do so, and they are also very much more active on 

 land ; young Sheldrakes of three species that I have 

 watched, the Common {ladorna vulpanser). Ruddy 

 {Casarca rutila), and New Zealand (C variegata), 

 dive most freely for food during the first week or 

 two, while I have never seen the adults of any of 

 these species do this, while they readily turn tail-up 

 in the usual Duck manner, although in the ordinary 



