180 



HIKURDINID.E. 



labour in the short space of two or three days is most 

 wonderful, and, considering their small beaks and tender 

 feet, it can hardly be thought possible. 



The nest is composed of hay and wool, feathers, &c, 

 and is very warm and soft ; the female deposits from five 

 to six eggs, and hatches them after twelve or thirteen days' 

 incubation ; these eggs are extremely thin in the shell, trans- 

 parent and tender ; in fact, the least touch is sufficient to 

 break them, and the yolk can plainly be seen through 

 the shell. Both parents provide for their young until they 

 can follow them in their vocation, which is very early ac- 

 complished, namely, in about fourteen days, but at night 

 the whole family return home and sleep together. 



In the month of August they begin their departure, and 

 may be seen frequenting the water side in large numbers. 

 These birds have only one brood in the summer, in which 

 they differ from the preceding species, and they return 

 occasionally to the same hole to breed ; or, should the cliff 

 in which it was formed have fallen away, they select another 

 place as near to it as possible. 



