CHAPTER XIV 



CARE OF OFFSPRING (continued) 



The care of the young undertaken by the male alone, and by the female 

 alone, or by both parents. The remarkable case of the Sand-grouse in procuring 

 water for their young. The strange case of the transportation of the young in 

 the Woodcock. Feeding customs. Sanitation of the nest. The callousness of 

 Eagles. The coloration of nestlings. 



WITH the hatching of the eggs and the advent of the 

 young the cares and labours of the parents enter a 

 new and more exacting phase. Where the female 

 has been left to carry out the work of incubation alone she 

 is now often joined by her mate, no longer able to ignore his 

 responsibilities, or perhaps roused into activity by the sight of 

 his offspring. In some cases, however, the hen has to shield 

 her young from the vicious onslaughts of the cock, who, however, 

 soon appears to accept the inevitable and settles down to aid in 

 the work of feeding. In the Emu (BromcBus), on the contrary, 

 the reverse is the -fact, but here, it must be remembered, the 

 duties of incubation and the care of the young devolve entirely 

 on the male. But where the cock takes the task of incubation 

 entirely upon himself the maternal instincts seem to be de- 

 generate, inasmuch as the care of the young, as of the eggs, 

 devolves entirely upon him, as, for instance, in the case of the 

 Rhea and the Emu. By way of contrast, we find that among 

 the Pelicans and the Ducks, for example, the care of the family 

 falls on the female only. 



But the arduousness of parental cares varies not so much in 

 proportion to the number of offspring as in relation to the 

 condition of this offspring at hatching. Thus young Ostriches, 

 Game-birds or Ducks, which are able to run about almost 

 immediately they leave the egg, also feed themselves under the 

 parents' guidance; while young Thrushes, Rooks or Pigeons, 

 for example, are what we may call prematurely hatched (p. 246), 



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