828 
BIRD-LIFE. 
besides which, the weather has much to do in the 
matter of the greater or less duration of the time 
necessary to hatch out the young. Thus, the Pigeon 
takes seventeen days; the Quail requires three weeks ; 
the Domestic Fowl, however, needs no more; while the 
smaller Colin ( Ortyx ) takes three - and - twenty days ; 
the Pheasant, six-and-twenty; and the Guinea Fowl, 
eight-and-twenty. In fine weather the eggs of the 
Swallow are hatched in thirteen days ; when the weather, 
however, is unfavourable, they are often not hatched 
before the seventeenth day: this is caused by the 
mother’s absence in search of food being protracted; 
and thus the germ in the egg is deprived of the necessary 
warmth for a greater length of time. 
The parent birds in nowise assist the young to disen¬ 
gage themselves from their prison, though as soon as 
they are clear they remove the empty shells, and warm 
the little strangers until they are thoroughly dry and 
comfortable. Most birds for some days after this rarely 
leave their young for long, and then only to procure food 
for themselves and their little family, as warmth is 
almost more necessary to these unfledged weakly crea¬ 
tures than daily bread. In the commencement their food 
is the softest that the parent birds can procure; later 
on they are furnished with less delicate fare. Birds of 
Prey first feed their young on insects or half-digested 
meat; granivorous birds on seeds, which have first been 
allowed to soften in the crop; Pigeons, with a cheesy 
substance, which is secreted from the walls of the 
crop, &c. 
All the Galiinacece , and most Marsh- and Water-birds, 
lead their young from the nest as soon as they are 
dry, and teach them to pick up their food by pretending 
