When the young broods were hatched the girls were greatly
disappointed at the appearance of little grayish fluffy balls,
instead of the lovely red things they had expected, and were by no
means consoled when their father told them that it would be three
or four years before they gained their beautiful color. However,
they became great pets, and were very droll, with their long legs,
and slender necks, and great curved bills. They became extremely
tame, and would, after a time, follow the girls about, and stalk up
to the house of their own accord to be fed, their food always being
placed in water, as they never feed by picking upon the ground, for
which, indeed, the peculiar construction of their beak is entirely
unfitted. They were perfectly fearless of the dogs, which, on their
part, were too well trained to touch them; and their funny way and
their extreme tameness were a source of constant amusement to the
whole family.
But we must now retrace our steps. After the important work of
getting a certain amount of land under cultivation, the next most
urgent business was the formation of a garden. The land inside the
enclosure round the house was first plowed up, and then dug by
hand, the turf being left in front of the house to serve as a lawn.
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