YOUNG BIRDS IN THE NURSERY 63 



Precocious nestlings of water-birds are often borne 

 about on the backs of their parents, as in the case of 

 young swans and grebes, for example. In the case of 

 the little grebe, or dabchick (^T achybafteo ftuviatilis), the 

 young remain for many hours daily in the nest, perched 

 on the back of the mother, and covered by her wings. 

 During this time they are fed assiduously by the male, 

 who has been seen to take as many as forty journeys 

 with food in the space of a little less than an hour. Later, 

 as the young gather strength, they are fed on the water, 

 the portion of each, consisting either of vegetable matter, 

 aquatic insects, or small fish, being dropped in the water 

 and picked up by the youngsters. If suddenly alarmed 

 when in the nest with her young ones, the dabchick takes 

 at once to the water, her chicks following. If they are 

 unable to keep up, she halts for a moment till they reach 

 her, when raising her wings they creep under, and pressing 

 them to her sides she then bears them off. 



Far more remarkable is the case of the woodcock, which, 

 when breeding at a distance from its feeding-ground, as 

 it often does, carries its young to and fro to feed with 

 it. That this is undoubtedly the case few wiU now deny, 

 though for years the matter gave rise to the most heated 

 controversy. This transportation becomes necessary when 

 the nest is placed on high ground remote from small 

 streams and swampy areas, where food for these highly 

 specialised birds is alone procurable. When such is the 

 case the parents carry the young down at dusk and 

 back again at dawn. So far as can be made out, the 

 precious burden is borne between the feet — though some 

 who have written on this theme hold that they are pressed 

 between the thighs, and further guarded against a fall 

 by means of the long beak, which is placed underneath ; 



