animals, mice, rats, small birds, snakes, etc., which they catch and from which 

 they tear small pieces to thrust into the waiting mouths of their babes. These 

 babies soon learn to tear the food for themselves, however, so the old birds 

 merely bring their victims to the nest and allow the young to fight among them- 

 selves for the tid-bits. 



Birds are solicitous for the welfare of the young in proportion as they have 

 ascended the scale of evolution. Those of the lower orders take the least care 

 and seem to have the least amount of parental affection. The ostrich lays its 

 eggs and then deserts them entirely, trusting to the heat of the sun and sand to 

 hatch them and probably not caring whether they are hatched at all. The 

 grebes, coots, gallinules, etc., care for their young but a short time after hatch- 

 ing them before allowing them to shift for themselves, and even with the ducks 

 the drake deserts his mate as soon as the laying is commenced and seldom 

 returns until all danger of his having to take part in the caring for the young 

 has passed. On the other hand with many of the plovers, phalaropes, etc., the 

 duties of hatching the eggs devolves almost entirely upon the fathers, but by 

 far the best instance of parental love among the precocials is shown by the little 

 bobwhite of our fields. The male is a model husband, and takes entire charge 

 of the first brood while the little mother is sitting upon the second litter of eggs. 

 When these are hatched she leads these, her second brood, forth to join these 

 over which the father has had entire supervision, and thenceforth, through the 

 entire station, the whole family remain together. If some accident happens to 

 scatter them there can be heard a pitiful calling from all directions until the 

 family are again united, but, alas ! too often with the loss of one or more of its 

 members. 



There are among those birds that are highest in the evolutionary scale 

 degenerates who after the egg is laid have no further interest in it or the young 

 one that comes from it. Of this class two good examples are the European 

 cuckoo and the cowbird of the United States. These birds lay their eggs in the 

 nests of other birds and leave them to the tender mercies of the reluctant foster 

 mother. She sometimes by various methods manages to rid herself of this 

 unwelcome addition to her family, but more often she is forced to hatch the 

 egg and rear the ungainly and unmannerly youngsters with her own brood. 



— GUIDE TO NATURE. 



692 



