6o 



Wild Birds. 



the young gave the call-notes repeatedly, but the old birds usually approached without a 

 sound, and were never both at the nest at the same time. On the next day the mother 



bird was feeding the young before I 

 could set up the tent. Both birds 

 came frequently bringing black cher- 

 ries and grasshoppers. At each feed- 

 ing the following order of events was 

 usually observed : the parent sounds 

 the call-note at a distance, to which 

 the young reply, but observes strict 

 silence in drawing near; the young 

 are fed, inspected, and cleaned ; the 

 old bird flies to a convenient perch, 

 rubs the bill clean, plumes, and speeds 

 off to the nearest cherry trees. 



In the course of the forenoon 

 these fledglings became very restless, 

 and as the heat from the sun increased, 

 one crawled out, sat in the shadow 

 of the leaves, and finally dropped to 

 the grass. Here it was immediately 

 fed, and then hopped away surprisingly 

 fast. The male enticed it along, and 

 thereafter took care of it, while the 

 mother returned to her remaining nest- 

 ling. Twenty minutes later, the last 

 fledgling had left the nest, never to return, and the curtain was immediately rung 

 down. The young had spent exactly two weeks in their temporary home, and had the 

 weather been cooler they might have tarried at least two days longer. 



At this age the crest is not very prominent, and instead of the jet-black, triangular 

 band which surrounds the eye in an old bird, the crown of the head is encircled by a 

 light band, passing above the eye. At the age of ten days, or a little earlier, the tubes 

 of the wing-quills burst, and the red wax-like tips of the secondaries, when present at all, 

 also appear, or at least did appear in the young from this nest. 



When about ready to fly and waiting to be fed the young have the peculiar habit 

 already noticed of standing erect with upturned heads. A nest of these birds, in 

 this attitude makes a curious picture. Any danger signal is now likely to bring 

 them off in an instant. This particular brood had their abode in a pine tree close to our 

 house. On July 1 7th, shortly before the picture was made, the family of five was stand- 

 ing bolt upright, all facing one way, as if under military discipline. When their branch 

 was touched all but the two shown in Fig. 1 17 gained the nearest trees in their first flight 

 and escaped. This pair came to the ground, and were replaced in the nest. In their second 

 attempt made ten minutes later, the larger of the two birds was more successful. It flew 

 to the roof of the barn, not far above it, and after hopping to the ridge-pole, made the 

 upper branches of a tall elm. In the larger of the two birds the black band of velvety 



Fig. 45. Devouring the excreta : an unusual attitude. 



