. Birds of the water, wood & waste . WOOD AND WASTE 173 form. He thus sat looking across hisshoulder, his head following her body slowlyand steadily, as iron does a magnet. Allthe motions of the parent bird w^ere mostdeliberate, although by this time her off-spring Avas piping with impatience andcontinuously shivering out both wings, butespecially the one nearest her. Still acting with tantalising slowness, shefinally reached the branch leading into thenest and towards which his head now asw^ell as his body pointed, and down thisbough she sidled till close to her eagernestling. Then, again, sh
. Birds of the water, wood & waste . WOOD AND WASTE 173 form. He thus sat looking across hisshoulder, his head following her body slowlyand steadily, as iron does a magnet. Allthe motions of the parent bird w^ere mostdeliberate, although by this time her off-spring Avas piping with impatience andcontinuously shivering out both wings, butespecially the one nearest her. Still acting with tantalising slowness, shefinally reached the branch leading into thenest and towards which his head now asw^ell as his body pointed, and down thisbough she sidled till close to her eagernestling. Then, again, she paused as if to calculatethe exact distance, bending her neck downtow^ards the young one, who simultaneouslyraised his head. Their beaks then met, theold birds overlapping that of the nestling,and the contents of her crop were transferredto his with curious swaying, undulatorymotions. This remarkable operation tookabout three seconds, and I judged that thefood given w^as at least partially digestedfrom the absence of dilatation in
Size: 1291px × 1936px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1910
