Nest II is the seventeenth chapter in the Fourth Configuration. It shows how the evil Biosyn group manages to steal dinosaur eggs from a nest.
Plot[]
Lewis Dodgson brings the jeep to a halt as the men see large footprints and hear honking sounds. He then asks for a box and it is clear Howard King and George Baselton do not know what he means and only after some arguing, Dodgson takes the box and plugs in a battery pack and asks King if the batteries are charged and they are. He finally reveals the plan: The box will emit high-pitch sounds, scaring adult dinosaurs away. Dodgson will operate it, adjusting the volume and pitch of the sounds. The other two will move into individual nests, pick up a fresh egg each and Dodgson will return last. Baselton is confident while King wonders what breed the dinosaurs in front are. Dodgson doesn't care and the nest in front is depicted as seven feet wide, and three feet deep. Dodgson identifies the twenty adults as Maiasaura and the tasks will be really simple.
Michael Crichton writes that Maiasaura were named by Jack Horner. Scientist thought dinosaurs would abandon their eggs but Horner's digging showed that "at least one species of hadrosaurs had engaged in complex nesting and parenting behavior" and called that "Good-Mother Lizard." Dodgson's observations confirm Horner's theory - the Maiasaura were attentive, dropping grass to regulate the temperature of the eggs, walking around the mounts to avoid cracking the shells. They appear as duck-billed, large heads that ended in a broad, flattened snout. Dodgson replies to Baselton's huge comment they are simply "over-sized" cows. He starts the box and closing in, it shows no infants have hatched. The adult dinosaurs honk in response to high-pitched sound yet initially do not move. As Dodgson increases the pitch, the Maiasaura urinate in fear and move away from the nest. King and Baselton follow the instructions and Dodgson turns off the device. As the adult dinosaurs return, they appear not to find the eggs missing and the triumph Dodgson thinks silent they are dumb. The others settle the eggs in individual boxes and they head to the next dinosaur nest.
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