332 
BIRD-LIFE. 
his nest, and then marches about close by, apparently in 
the most unconcerned manner. Everyone is well aware 
how an old Hen assembles her chicks together when 
danger is near, though it is, probably, not so well known 
that the Grebe will, in time of peril, take her young 
under her wings and dive with them ; yes, and even fly off 
holding them with the side breast-feathers. It sometimes 
happens that if birds have been repeatedly disturbed, 
they will remove their young to another nest. That 
incomparable observer, Audubon, saw this done by an 
American Kite ( Ictinea pliimbeci); an agent of Count 
Wodzicki witnessed the same in the case of a Short-toed 
Eagle ( Circaetos br achy dactylics); and others have seen 
a pair of Eagle Owls act in a similar manner. Our 
Woodcock ( Scolopax rusticola) is said to carry away her 
young, holding them between the beak, feet, and breast ; 
one of the American Goatsuckers (Antrostomus carolinensis) 
even places its eggs in safety by carrying them away in 
its broad mouth. 
Parent birds show such courage in defence of their 
young as is really astonishing. Naumann believes that 
the male evinces more anxiety about the eggs, and the 
female greater care for the young birds. I, however, 
have not seen anything which would go to prove that this 
idea is a correct one, though I have observed much to 
make me wonder at the conduct of both parents at the 
nest. Many quite ignore the question of their own safety 
while defending their home. A female Sparrow Hawk 
once knocked my father’s cap off his head, while he was 
by her nest. The affection of parent birds for their 
young is indescribably great; and, though mortally 
wounded, they will still seek to show their love. A 
Grebe, when shot, will not forsake her nest, but lay 
