. The study of animal life . their mates, but most of the monogamous malesare careful either in sharing the duty of brooding or insupplying the females with food. After the eggs hatch,the degree of care required varies according to thestate of the young; for many are precociously energeticand able to look after themselves, while others still requireprolonged nurture. They need large quantities of food,to supply which all the energies of both parents seemsometimes no more than adequate; they may still requireto be brooded over, and certainly to be protected fromrain and enemies. After they are
. The study of animal life . their mates, but most of the monogamous malesare careful either in sharing the duty of brooding or insupplying the females with food. After the eggs hatch,the degree of care required varies according to thestate of the young; for many are precociously energeticand able to look after themselves, while others still requireprolonged nurture. They need large quantities of food,to supply which all the energies of both parents seemsometimes no more than adequate; they may still requireto be brooded over, and certainly to be protected fromrain and enemies. After they are reared, they have to betaught to fly, to catch food, to avoid danger, and a dozenother arts. With what apparent love—willing and joyous—is all this done for them ! CHAP. VI The Domestic Life of Ajiinials II Consider the cunning often displayed in leaving orapproaching the nest, in removing debris which wouldbetray the whereabouts of the young, or in distractingattention to a safe distance ; remember, too, that some birds. Fig. 26.—Nest of tailor-bird (Qrthotomus benettii). (After Brehm.) will shift either eggs or young to a new resting-place whenextreme danger threatens; estimate the energy spent infeeding the brood, sometimes on a diet quite differentfrom that of adult life ; and acknowledge that the parentalinstinct is very deeply rooted, since fostering young nottheir own may be practised by orphaned birds of bothsexes. Listen to the bird which has been bereaved, and tellme is not the lone singer wonderful, causing tears ? The female of the Indian and African hornbill nests ina hole in a tree, the entrance to which she plasters up sothat no room is left either for exit or entrance. The I 114 Tlie Study of Animal Life part i Malays imagined that this was the work of the jealousmale, but it is the females own doing. She sits,Marshall says, securely hidden, safe from any carnivoreor mischievous ape or snake stealthily climbing, while themale exerts himself lovingly to bri
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