(The birds later on did not sit in the day, or even stay near the nest.)
24th.—Bird sitting very closely; she raised herself, and let me see the eggs (two only), now of a buff colour, and then spread out her feathers, and settled down on them.
25th.—About midday I saw the bird rise and cover the nest, and get off, when a young one crawled (on all fours) after her, and crept under her wing on the water. She was brooding in the evening.
26th.—I thrice saw the old bird go off, leaving still two eggs.[1] On the first occasion I saw no young; on the others it crawled off, swam to her, and crept under her long flank-feathers, the legs disappearing last; on the third occasion I could see all this distinctly.
November 5th.—I saw for the first time the young birds swimming in the open water, and following the parent. Until now they have almost always been on its back, where one could see the two heads [one more bird had been hatched] sticking up, the bodies being under the old bird's wings. They were sometimes on the nest, but rarely just outside it. They could not walk or even stand up at first. The larger parent was the carrier.
7th.—Saw young birds, right over at the other side of the tank, dive for the first time.
11th.—Watched the old one go on to the nest at night, and one young one, which had been standing up, get under its parent's wing, but had to leave for fear of disturbing them. The old birds bullied some Ducks to-day, but not a Coot; while neither Coot nor Ducks took any notice of their young.
13th.—Saw the young—one with each parent—separate, at opposite ends of the pond.
16th.—I saw the smaller young bird pecked away by one parent which it was accompanying, and crying very loudly; while the other young was on good terms with its attendant old bird. Later, I saw both together with one old bird, which drove both away; but then more than once fed the smaller one, deliberately driving the other off; this larger chick was
- ↑ I do not know how I could have overlooked the third egg, but probably it was covered on the 24th, when I saw the other two.
