812 
BIKD-LIFE. 
much attached to them. On the approach of an enemy 
she immediately feigns being wounded, and thus seeks to 
draw off attention from the nest. As soon as the young 
are hatched she leads them from the nest to some moist 
spot, where she teaches them to seek for food, first laying 
it before them, and later on leaving them to hunt for 
themselves. When a month old they are full grown, and 
in condition to migrate with the mother. The Buffs do 
not trouble themselves in the slightest degree about their 
offspring. They fight as long as a female, without nest 
or eggs, is to be found; and when there are no more 
Reeves minus a family they take their departure from 
the breeding place. 
These birds possess numerous enemies beside man, 
who traps them for the sake of their flesh, which is 
considered a great delicacy: they are persecuted by 
Falcons, Goshawks, Harriers, Ravens, Crows, foxes, 
stoats, and even lemmings. They can only manage to 
escape the clutches of their winged foes by taking to the 
water and diving. Their four-legged enemies usually 
confine their depredations to the nestlings. Man snares 
them in horse-hair nooses. 
