240 CURIOUS HOMES AND THEIR TENANTS. 



tory Bay. Their nests were nearest the farther side 

 of the isthmus, but when they were approached the 

 male birds would run to the water, not by the short- 

 est route where it was deep, close to the rocks, but by 

 the longest, to a place where the shore was shelving. 



" It was amusing to see a troop of them start off as 

 fast as their abbreviated apologies for legs would allow 

 them, holding out their ridiculous-looking wings like 

 the sleeves of coats so long as to conceal the wearer's 

 hands, and tumbling headlong over stones and other 

 obstacles in their way, simply because, instead of 

 looking to see where they were going, they would 

 persist in gazing backward at their pursuers, and 

 shouting and scolding at the top of their voices. 

 Panic seemed to possess them all, but the females, 

 allowing their mother-love to overcome their fear, 

 soon returned to their nests, and, if the intruder stood 

 still, soon settled down again upon their eggs. 



" Not many weeks passed before a change took 

 place in tlieir behavior. The young were hatched, 

 and now the mothers anxiously endeavored to per- 

 suade them to follow the example of their fathers 

 and nin away to sea. But the nestlings much pre- 

 ferred to stay in their nests ; they did not care if the 

 stranger did stroke them, although their mothers 

 would run at him with open beaks if he dared to do 

 so. Only a few of the older chicks could be prevailed 

 upon to stir, and they, after waddling a few yards, 

 became satisfied with their performance and turned 

 to go home again. Their mothers, who had straggled 

 to a greater distance, began also to return. 



