186 



BAHAMA BIRD-LIFE 



Young Flamingo Eating Egg-shell 



nest and ran or swam rapidly away. On subsequent days, it 

 became necessary to enter my blind with caution, to avoid 

 frightening the young in the near-by nests. At the best, 

 some would leave their homes and scurry away, but they 

 returned to the place of their birth apparently in response 

 to a call uttered by the parent as it stood on or near the 

 deserted, nest. The little chick reached the top of the nest 

 unaided by the parent bird, using its bill, feet, and wings 

 in the effort. The thumb and index finger are both provided 

 with a somewhat recurved nail, which in this connection 

 may be functional. Tbe parents evidently recognized their 

 own offspring, and when a youngster lost bis way, his nape 

 was promptly pinched by every old bird within whose reach 



