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Brief Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
PART I 21st Century Human Resource Management Strategic Planning
and Legal Issues
Chapter 1. The New Human Resource Management Process
Chapter 2. Strategy-Driven Human Resource Management
Chapter 3. The Legal Environment and Diversity Management
PART II Staffing
Chapter 4. Matching Employees and Jobs: Job Analysis and Design
Chapter 5. Recruiting Job Candidates
Chapter 6. Selecting New Employees
PART III Developing and Managing
Chapter 7. Training, Learning, Talent Management, and Development
Chapter 8. Performance Management and Appraisal
Chapter 9. Employee Rights and Labor Relations
PART IV Compensating
Chapter 10. Compensation Management
Chapter 11. Employee Incentives and Benefits
PART V Protecting and Expanding Organizational Outreach
Chapter 12. Workplace Safety, Health, and Security
Chapter 13. Organizational Ethics, Sustainability, and Social
Responsibility
Chapter 14. Global Issues for Human Resource Managers
Appendix
Glossary
Notes
Index

8
9
10
Detailed Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
PART I 21st Century Human Resource Management Strategic Planning
and Legal Issues
Chapter 1. The New Human Resource Management Process
Why Study Human Resource Management (HRM)?
21st Century HRM
HRM Then and Now
HRM Challenges
Critical Dependent Variables
Technology and Knowledge
Labor Demographics
Disciplines Within HRM
The Legal Environment: EEO and Diversity Management
Staffing
Training and Development
Employee Relations
Labor and Industrial Relations
Compensation and Benefits
Safety and Security
Ethics and Sustainability
HRM Responsibilities
Line Versus Staff Management
Major HR Responsibilities of HR Staff and Line Management
HRM Skills
Technical Skills
Human Relations Skills
Conceptual and Design Skills
Business Skills
HRM Careers
Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
Other HR Organizations
Professional Liability
Practitioner’s Model for HRM
The Model
Trends and Issues in HRM
Creating an Engaged Workforce
Reverse Discrimination Rulings Continue to Evolve
Chapter Summary

11
 Key Terms Review
Communication Skills
Case 1-1 Ba-Zynga! Zynga Faces Trouble in Farmville
Skill Builders
Chapter 2. Strategy-Driven Human Resource Management
Strategy and Strategic Planning in the 21st Century: The
Organization and the Environment
The External Environment
Strategy
What Is Strategy?
Visions, Missions, and Objectives
Types of Strategies
How Strategy Affects HRM
How HRM Promotes Strategy
Structure
Basics of Organizational Structure
How Does Structure Affect Employee Behavior?
How Does Structure Affect HRM?
Organizational Culture
What Is Organizational Culture?
How Culture Controls Employee Behavior in Organizations
Social Media and Culture Management
An Introduction to Data Analytics for HRM
A Brief on Data Analytics
HR Analytics
Desired Outcomes
Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)
What Are HRIS?
How Do HRIS Assist in Making Decisions?
Measurement Tools for Strategic HRM
Economic Value Added (EVA)
Return on Investment (ROI)
Trends and Issues in HRM
Everything Old Is New Again: Managing Data for HRM
Decision Making
Continuing Globalization Increases the Need for Strategic and
HRM Planning
Chapter Summary
Key Terms Review
Communication Skills
Case 2-1 Strategy-Driven HR Management: Netflix, A Behind-The-
Scenes Look At Delivering Entertainment
Skill Builders

12
Chapter 3. The Legal Environment and Diversity Management
The Legal Environment for HRM: Protecting Your Organization
A User’s Guide to Managing People: The OUCH Test
Objective
Uniform in Application
Consistent in Effect
Has Job Relatedness
Major Employment Laws
Equal Pay Act of 1963
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (CRA)
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974
(VEVRAA)
Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA)
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), as Amended
in 2008
Civil Rights Act of 1991
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights
Act of 1994 (USERRA)
Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004 (VBIA)
Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of
2008 (GINA)
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (LLFPA)
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
What Does the EEOC Do?
Employee Rights Under the EEOC
Employer Rights and Prohibitions
EEO, Affirmative Action, and Diversity: What’s the Difference?
Affirmative Action (AA)
Diversity in the Workforce
Sexual Harassment: A Special Type of Discrimination
Types of Sexual Harassment
What Constitutes Sexual Harassment?
Reducing Organizational Risk From Sexual Harassment
Lawsuits
Religious Discrimination
Trends and Issues in HRM
Federal Agencies Are Becoming More Activist in Pursuing
Discrimination Claims
The ADA and the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA)
Chapter Summary
Key Terms Review
Communication Skills

13
 Case 3-1 English-Only: One Hotel’s Dilemma
Skill Builders
PART II Staffing
Chapter 4. Matching Employees and Jobs: Job Analysis and Design
Employee and Job Matching
Workflow Analysis
Organizational Output
Tasks and Inputs
Job Analysis
Why Do We Need to Analyze Jobs?
Databases
Job Analysis Methods
Outcomes: Job Description and Job Specification
Job Design/Redesign
Organizational Structure and Job Design
Approaches to Job Design and Redesign
The Job Characteristics Model (JCM)
Designing Motivational Jobs
Job Simplification
Job Expansion
Job Design for Flexibility
HR Forecasting
Forecasting Methods
Reconciling Internal Labor Supply and Demand
Options for a Labor Surplus
Options for a Labor Shortage
Trends and Issues in HRM
O*Net as a Tool for Job Analysis
Workflows and Job Design for Sustainability
Chapter Summary
Key Terms Review
Communication Skills
Case 4-1 Gauging Employment at Honeywell
Skill Builders
Chapter 5. Recruiting Job Candidates
The Recruiting Process
External Forces Acting on Recruiting Efforts
Organizational Recruiting Considerations
What Policies to Set
When to Recruit
Alternatives to Recruitment
Reach of the Recruiting Effort
Social Media Recruiting

14
 Internal or External Recruiting?
Internal Recruiting
External Recruiting
Challenges and Constraints in Recruiting
Budgetary Constraints
Policy Constraints and Organizational Image
Job Characteristics and the Realistic Job Preview (RJP)
The Recruiter–Candidate Interaction
Evaluation of Recruiting Programs
Yield Ratio
Cost per Hire
Time Required to Hire
New Hire Turnover
New Hire Performance
Trends and Issues in HRM
Talent Wars
Global Knowledge Workers as an On-Demand Workforce
Chapter Summary
Key Terms Review
Communication Skills
Case 5-1 LINKEDIN: How Does the World’s Largest Professional
Network Network?
Skill Builders
Chapter 6. Selecting New Employees
The Selection Process
The Importance of the Selection Process
Steps in the Selection Process
Looking for “Fit”
Personality-Job Fit
Ability-Job Fit
Person-Organization Fit
Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures
What Qualifies as an Employment Test?
Valid and Reliable Measures
Applications and Preliminary Screening
Applications and Résumés
Pre-employment Inquiries
Testing and Legal Issues
The EEOC and Employment Testing
Polygraph and Genetic Testing
Written Testing
Physical Testing
Selection Interviews

15
 Interviewing
Types of Interviews and Questions
Preparing for and Conducting the Interview
Background Checks
Credit Checks
Criminal Background Checks
Reference Checks
Web Searches
Selecting the Candidate and Offering the Job
Hiring
Trends and Issues in HRM
Selection With a Global Workforce
HRIS and the Selection Process
Chapter Summary
Key Terms Review
Communication Skills
Case 6-1 Not Getting Face Time at Facebook—and Getting the Last
Laugh!
Skill Builders
PART III Developing and Managing
Chapter 7. Training, Learning, Talent Management, and Development
The Need for Training and Development
Training and Development
When Is Training Needed?
The Training Process and Needs Assessment
Steps in the Training Process
Needs Assessment
Employee Readiness
Learning and Shaping Behavior
Learning
Operant Conditioning and Reinforcement
Shaping Behavior
Design and Delivery of Training
On-the-Job Training (OJT)
Classroom Training
Distance or E-Learning
Assessing Training
Assessment Methods
Choosing Assessment Methods
Talent Management and Development
Careers
Common Methods of Employee Development
A Model of Career Development Consequences

16
 Trends and Issues in HRM
The Gamification of Training and Development
Outsourcing Employee Training and Development
Chapter Summary
Key Terms Review
Communication Skills
Case 7-1 Google Search: Building the Program that Writes the Code
to Find Female Talent
Skill Builders
Chapter 8. Performance Management and Appraisal
Performance Management Systems
Performance Management Versus Performance Appraisal
The Performance Appraisal Process
Accurate Performance Measures
Why Do We Conduct Performance Appraisals?
Communication (Informing)
Decision Making (Evaluating)
Motivation (Engaging)
What Do We Assess?
Trait Appraisals
Behavioral Appraisals
Results Appraisals
How Do We Use Appraisal Methods and Forms?
Critical Incidents Method
Management by Objectives (MBO) Method
Narrative Method or Form
Graphic Rating Scale Form
Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS) Form
Ranking Method
Which Option Is Best?
Who Should Assess Performance?
Supervisor
Peers
Subordinates
Self
Customers
360-Degree Evaluations
Performance Appraisal Problems
Common Problems Within the Performance Appraisal Process
Avoiding Performance Appraisal Process Problems
Debriefing the Appraisal
The Evaluative Performance Appraisal Interview
The Developmental Performance Appraisal Interview

17
 Trends and Issues in HRM
Is It Time to Do Continuous Appraisals?
Competency-Based Performance Management
Chapter Summary
Key Terms Review
Communication Skills
Case 8-1 Amazon.com: Selling Employee Performance With
Organization and Leadership Review
Skill Builders
Chapter 9. Employee Rights and Labor Relations
Managing and Leading Your Workforce
Trust and Communication
Job Satisfaction
Measuring Job Satisfaction
Determinants of Job Satisfaction
Commonly Accepted Employee Rights
Right of Free Consent
Right to Due Process
Right to Life and Safety
Right of Freedom of Conscience (Limited)
Right to Privacy (Limited)
Right to Free Speech (Limited)
Management Rights
Codes of Conduct
Employment-at-Will
Coaching, Counseling, and Discipline
Coaching
Counseling
Disciplining
Legal Issues in Labor Relations
The Railway Labor Act (RLA) of 1926
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) of 1935 (Wagner
Act)
The Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) of 1947 (Taft-
Hartley Act)
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of
1988 (WARN Act)
Unions and Labor Rights
Union Organizing
Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining
Grievances
Decertification Elections
Trends and Issues in HRM

18
 Facebook, Twitter, etc. @ Work: Are They Out of Control?
Nonunion Worker Protection and the NLRB
Chapter Summary
Key Terms Review
Communication Skills
Case 9-1 Off-Duty Misconduct
Skill Builders
PART IV Compensating
Chapter 10. Compensation Management
Compensation Management
The Compensation System
Motivation and Compensation Planning
Organizational Philosophy
Ability to Pay
What Types of Compensation?
Pay for Performance or Pay for Longevity?
Skill-Based or Competency-Based Pay?
At, Above, or Below the Market?
Wage Compression
Pay Secrecy
Legal and Fairness Issues in Compensation
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (Amended)
Pay Equity and Comparable Worth
Other Legal Issues
Job Evaluation
External Method
Job Ranking Method
Point-Factor Method
Factor Comparison Method
Developing a Pay System
Job Structure and Pay Levels
Pay Structure
Trends and Issues in HRM
A Shift From Base Pay to Variable Pay
The Technology of Compensation
Chapter Summary
Key Terms Review
Communication Skills
Case 10-1 Employee Red-Lining at CVS: The Have and the Have
Not
Skill Builders
Chapter 11. Employee Incentives and Benefits
The Value of Incentives and Benefits

19
 Individual Incentives
Advantages and Disadvantages of Individual Incentives
Individual Incentive Options
Group Incentives
Advantages and Disadvantages of Group Incentives
Group Incentive Options
Executive Compensation
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection
Act of 2010
Executive Incentives
Statutory Benefits
Social Security and Medicare
Workers’ Compensation
Unemployment Insurance
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA)
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010
(ACA)
Statutory Requirements When Providing Certain Voluntary Benefits
Voluntary Benefits
Paid Time Off
Group Health Insurance
Retirement Benefits
Other Employee Benefits
Flexible Benefit (Cafeteria) Plans
Trends and Issues in HRM
Incentives to Act Unethically?
Personalization of Health Care
Chapter Summary
Key Terms Review
Communication Skills
Case 11-1 Google Searches SAS for the Business Solution to How
to Create an Award-Winning Culture
Skill Builders
PART V Protecting and Expanding Organizational Outreach
Chapter 12. Workplace Safety, Health, and Security
Workplace Safety and OSHA
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act)
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
What Does OSHA Do?
Employer and Employee Rights and Responsibilities Under
OSA
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Employee Health

20
 Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and Employee
Wellness Programs (EWPs)
Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs)
Safety and Health Management and Training
Stress
Functional and Dysfunctional Stress
Stress Management
The Stress Tug-of-War
Workplace Security
Cyber Security
General Security Policies, Including Business Continuity and
Recovery
Workplace Violence
Social Media for Workplace Safety and Security
Employee Selection and Screening
Trends and Issues in HRM
Employee Wellness
Bullying in the Workplace
Chapter Summary
Key Terms Review
Communication Skills
Case 12-1 Nike: Taking a Run at Fixing Outsourced Worker Safety
Skill Builders
Chapter 13. Organizational Ethics, Sustainability, and Social
Responsibility
Ethical Organizations
Ethics Defined
Contributing Factors to Unethical Behavior
Ethical Approaches
Codes of Ethics
Creating and Maintaining Ethical Organizations
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
CSR Defined
Stakeholders and CSR
Levels of Corporate Social Responsibility
Sustainability
HR and Organizational Sustainability
Sustainability Training
The Sustainable 21st Century Organization
Trends and Issues in HRM
Sustainability-Based Benefits
Does Diversity Training Work?
Chapter Summary

21
 Key Terms Review
Communication Skills
Case 13-1 Microsoft, Nokia, and the Finnish Government: A
Promise Made, A Promise Broken?
Skill Builders
Chapter 14. Global Issues for Human Resource Managers
Globalization of Business and HRM
Reasons for Business Globalization
Is HRM Different in Global Firms?
Legal, Ethical, and Cultural Issues
International Labor Laws
US Law
National Culture
Global Staffing
Skills and Traits for Global Managers
Staffing Choice: Home-, Host-, or Third-Country Employees
Outsourcing as an Alternative to International Expansion
Developing and Managing Global Human Resources
Recruiting and Selection
Expatriate Training and Preparation
Repatriation After Foreign Assignments
Compensating Your Global Workforce
Pay
Incentives in Global Firms
Benefit Programs Around the World
Trends and Issues in HRM
Globalization of Business Is a Trend!
The Worldwide Labor Environment
Chapter Summary
Key Terms Review
Communication Skills
Case 14-1 IBM (I’ve Been Moved) at HSBC: Keeping
Compensation Competitive With ECA International
Skill Builders
Appendix
Glossary
Notes
Index

22
23
Preface

In his book Power Tools, John Nirenberg asks, “Why are so many well-intended
students learning so much and yet able to apply so little in their personal and
professional lives?” The world of business and human resource management
(HRM) has changed, and so should how it is taught. Increasing numbers of students
want more than lectures to gain an understanding of the concepts of HRM. They
want their courses to be relevant and to apply what they learn, and they want to
develop skills they can use in their everyday life and at work. It’s not enough to
learn about HRM; they want to learn how to be HR managers. This is why we
wrote the book. After reviewing and using a variety of HRM books for more than a
decade, we didn’t find any that (1) could be easily read and understood by students
and (2) effectively taught students how to be HR managers. We wrote this text out
of our desire to prepare students to be successful HR managers and/or to use HRM
skills as line managers or employees. As the subtitle states, this book not only
presents the important HRM concepts and functions, but also takes students to the
next level by actually engaging them by teaching them to apply the concepts through
critical thinking and to develop HRM skills they can use in their personal and
professional lives.

24
Market and Course
This book is for undergraduate and graduate-level courses in human resource
management (HRM) including personnel management. It is appropriate for a first
course in an HRM major, as well as required and elective courses found in
business schools. This textbook is also appropriate for HRM courses taught in
other disciplines such as education and psychology, particularly Industrial
Psychology and Organizational Psychology, and can be utilized for training courses
in Supervision. The level of the text assumes no prior background in business or
HRM. This book is an excellent choice for online and hybrid courses in HRM.

25
Another random document with
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Gay-Neck
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: Gay-Neck
The story of a pigeon

Author: Dhan Gopal Mukerji

Illustrator: Boris Artzybasheff

Release date: November 10, 2023 [eBook #72086]

Language: English

Original publication: New York, NY: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc, 1927

Credits: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GAY-NECK ***

Gay-Neck
 Copyright, 1927
By E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY

All rights reserved

First Printing July, 1927
Fifth Printing Dec., 1927
Tenth Printing May, 1928
Fifteenth Printing Oct., 1928
Seventeenth Printing Jan., 1929
 Eighteenth Printing June, 1929
Nineteenth Printing Nov., 1929
Twentieth Printing Nov., 1929

Printed in the United States of America

This book was awarded the

John Newbery Medal by the
Children's Librarians' Section of
the American Library
Association, for the most
distinguished contribution to
American Children's literature
during the year 1927.

By the same author

CASTE AND OUTCAST

MY BROTHER'S FACE
THE SECRET LISTENERS OF THE EAST
THE FACE OF SILENCE
 Stories for Children

KARI THE ELEPHANT

JUNGLE BEASTS AND MEN
HARI THE JUNGLE LAD
GAY-NECK (The Story of a Pigeon)

Published by
E. P. DUTTON & CO., INC.
 TO

Dear Suresh:
Since Gay-Neck needs a protector I thought of you for several
reasons. First of all being a poet, an observer of nature, and a
traveller, you would be able to protect the book from being
condemned. In fact, there is no one who can do it as well as yourself.
You know the country where Gay-Neck grew. You are versed in the
lore of birds. For a pigeon, life is a repetition of two incidents: namely,
quest of food and avoidance of attacks by its enemies. If the hero of
the present book repeats his escapes from attacks by hawks, it is
because that is the sort of mishap that becomes chronic in the case
of pigeons.
Now as to my sources, you well know that they are too numerous to
be mentioned here. Many hunters, poets like yourself, and books in
many languages have helped me to write Gay-Neck. And if you will
permit it, I hope to discharge at least a part of my debt by dedicating
this book to one of my sources—yourself.
I remain most faithfully yours,
Dhan Gopal.
 CONTENTS
PART I
I. Birth of Gay-Neck
II Education of Gay-Neck
III. Training in Direction
IV. Gay-Neck in the Himalayas
V. On Gay-Neck's Track
VI. Gay-Neck's Truancy
VII. Gay-Neck's Story
VIII. Gay-Neck's Odyssey (Continued)

PART II
I. Gay-Neck's Training for War
II. War Training (Continued)
III. Mating of Gay-Neck
IV. War Calls Gay-Neck
V. Second Adventure
VI. Ghond Goes Reconnoitring
VII. Gay-Neck Tells How He Carried the Message
VIII. Healing of Hate and Fear
IX. The Wisdom of the Lama
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Gay-Neck
With Enormously Long Reach He almost Touched the Top of
the Tree
No Beast of Prey Can Kill His Victim without Frightening Him
First
That Sound was Drowned in the Cry of the Eagles above
Who Screeched Like Mad, Slaying Each Other
GAY-NECK
PART I
CHAPTER I
 BIRTH OF GAY-NECK
he city of Calcutta, which boasts of a million
people, must have at least two million pigeons.
Every third Hindu boy has perhaps a dozen pet
carriers, tumblers, fantails, and pouters. The art of
domesticating pigeons goes back thousands of
years in India, and she has contributed two species
of pigeons as a special product of her bird fanciers,
the fantail and the pouter. Love and care have
been showered on pigeons for centuries by emperors, princes and
queens in their marble palaces, as well as by the poor, in their
humble homes. The gardens, grottos and fountains of the Indian rich
—the small field of flowers and fruits of the common folks, each has
its ornament and music,—many-colored pigeons and cooing white
doves with ruby eyes.
Even now any winter morning foreigners who visit our big cities may
see on the flat-roofed houses innumerable boys waving white flags
as signals to their pet pigeons flying up in the crisp cold air. Through
the blue heavens flocks of the birds soar like vast clouds. They start
in small flocks and spend about twenty minutes circling over the
roofs of their owners' homes. Then they slowly ascend and all the
separate groups from different houses of the town merge into one
big flock and float far out of sight. How they ever return to their own
homes is a wonder, for all the house-tops look alike in shape in spite
of their rose, yellow, violet and white colors.
But pigeons have an amazing sense of direction and love of their
owners. I have yet to see creatures more loyal than pigeons and
elephants. I have played with both, and the tusker on four feet in the
country, or the bird on two wings in the city, no matter how far they
wandered, were by their almost infallible instinct brought back to
their friend and brother—Man.
My elephant friend was called Kari, of whom you have heard before,
and the other pet that I knew well was a pigeon. His name was
Chitra-griva; Chitra meaning painted in gay colours, and Griva, neck
—in one phrase, pigeon Gay-Neck. Sometimes he was called
"Iridescence-throated."
Of course Gay-Neck did not come out of his egg with an iridescent
throat; he had to grow the feathers week by week; and until he was
three months old, there was very little hope that he would acquire the
brilliant collar, but at last when he did achieve it, he was the most
beautiful pigeon in my town in India, and the boys of my town owned
forty thousand pigeons.
But I must begin this story at the very beginning, I mean with Gay-
Neck's parents. His father was a tumbler who married the most
beautiful pigeon of his day; she came from a noble old stock of
carriers. That is why Gay-Neck proved himself later such a worthy
carrier pigeon in war as well as in peace. From his mother he
inherited wisdom, from his father bravery and alertness. He was so
quick-witted that sometimes he escaped the clutches of a hawk by
tumbling at the last moment right over the enemy's head. But of that
later, in its proper time and place.
Now let me tell you what a narrow escape Gay-Neck had while still in
the egg. I shall never forget the day when, through a mistake of
mine, I broke one of the two eggs that his mother had laid. It was
very stupid of me. I regret it even now. Who knows, maybe with that
broken egg perished the finest pigeon of the world. It happened in
this way. Our house was four stories high—and on its roof was built
our pigeon house. A few days after the eggs were laid I decided to
clean the pigeon hole in which Gay-Neck's mother was sitting on
them. I lifted her gently and put her on the roof beside me. Then I
lifted each egg carefully and put it most softly in the next pigeon
hole; which however had no cotton nor flannel on its hard wooden
floor. Then I busied myself with the task of removing the debris from
the birth-nest. As soon as that was done, I brought one egg back
and restored it to its proper place. Next I reached for the second one
and laid a gentle but firm hand on it. Just then something fell upon
my face like a roof blown by the storm. It was Gay-Neck's father
furiously beating my face with his wings. Worse still, he had placed
the claws of one of his feet on my nose. The pain and surprise of it
was so great that ere I knew how, I had dropped the egg. I was
engrossed in beating off the bird from my head and face and at last
he flew away. But too late; the little egg lay broken in a mess at my
feet. I was furious with its clumsy father and also with myself. Why
with myself? Because I should have been prepared for the father
bird's attack. He took me for a stealer of his eggs, and in his
ignorance was risking his life to prevent my robbing his nest. May I
impress it upon you that you should anticipate all kinds of surprise
attacks when cleaning a bird's home during nesting season.
But to go on with our story. The mother bird knew the day when she
was to break open the egg-shell with her own beak, in order to usher
Gay-Neck into the world. Though the male sits on the egg pretty
nearly one third of the time—for he does that each day from morning
till late afternoon—yet he does not know when the hour of his child's
birth is at hand. No one save the mother bird arrives at that divine
certainty. We do not yet understand the nature of the unique wireless
message by which she learns that within the shell the yolk and the
white of her egg have turned into a baby-bird. She also knows how
to tap the right spot so that the shell will break open without injuring
her child in the slightest. To me that is as good as a miracle.
Gay-Neck's birth happened exactly as I have described. About the
twentieth day after the laying of the egg I noticed that the mother
was not sitting on it any more. She pecked the father and drove him
away every time he flew down from the roof of the house and
volunteered to sit on the egg. Then he cooed, which meant, "Why do
you send me away?"
She, the mother, just pecked him the more, meaning, "Please go.
The business on hand is very serious."
At that, the father flew away. That worried me, for I was anxious for
the egg to hatch, and was feeling suspicious about its doing it at all.
With increased interest and anxiety I watched the pigeon hole. An
hour passed. Nothing happened. It was about the third quarter of the
next hour that the mother turned her head one way and listened to
something—probably a stirring inside that egg. Then she gave a
slight start. I felt as if a tremor were running through her whole body.
With it a great resolution came into her. Now she raised her head,
and took aim. In two strokes she cracked the egg open, revealing a
wee bird, all beak and a tiny shivering body! Now watch the mother.
She is surprised. Was it this that she was expecting all these long
days? Oh, how small, how helpless! The moment she realizes her
child's helplessness, she covers him up with the soft blue feathers of
her breast.
CHAPTER II