NESTING OF TBINGA ALPINA. 25 



all huddled together on the wet grass, though they appeared to 

 be only just hatched. They uttered a faint "wee-wee" when I 

 touched them, though they did not gape for food, which partly 

 proved they had recently left the shell. They were shivering, 

 for the air was chill. Not wishing to keep the warmth of the 

 parents from them, I made a hurried survey of the youngsters. 

 They had black legs and bill, and were covered with a fluffy down 

 of black, browns, white, and buffs — a treat to see. Portions of 

 the down on the back and sides of the hinder parts had fan- 

 shaped white tips, which gave such portions a very pretty 

 speckled appearance. On leaving them I came upon a lovely 

 blotched portion of the smaller end of an egg, which I placed in 

 my botanical box, to prove to others the success of my expedition. 

 The fact of finding shells away from the nest suggests that the 

 young are able to use their legs as soon as hatched. 



I should have liked one of the eggs to have been addled in my 

 first nest of 1905 — the ground colour was such a lovely polished 

 olive, while it is generally greenish blue in these pear-shaped 

 eggs, very glossy, and blotched with different shades of brown 

 and purple. From one of the nests I have a lovely egg, selected 

 to prove my finds, though I remember feeling some qualms of 

 conscience when taking it. 



