Extracts from Diary of Otto Widmann 9 



HOW YOUNG BIRDS ARE FED.* 



St. Louis, Mo., July 17, 1884. 



Jt may be interesting- to you to know more about the 

 family cares of our birds. In order to find out how often 

 young Martins are fed by their parents, and at what time 

 the piincipal meals are served, I watched my sixteen 

 feeding pairs during an entire day, June 24, from 4:00 

 A. ^1. till 8:00 P. M., marking every visit of the feeding 

 parents, males and females separately. 



The Martins began hunting at 4:15, but no food was 

 brought until 4 :30. 



The accompanying table shows that our young Mar- 

 tins had to put up with a light breakfast, but the visits 

 became more and more frequent as the sun and mercury 

 climbed up, and reached their liveliest time between 9 

 and 10 A. M., i. e., lunch time. After that a lull was 

 noticeable, broken only by an approaching storm, which 

 brouglit new life into the feeding business, but for a 

 short time only, and to be reduced to a minimum during 

 the light rain, 1 :25 to 2 :46. Even after the rain had 

 ceased little feeding was done until the sky began to 

 clear up and the sun reappeared. 



From that moment the number of visits swelled with 

 great rapidity, and kept me hard at work for over an 

 hour. It was the most substantial meal of the day, and 

 the young INlartins may well call it their dinner. 



After this the parents took a well-deserved rest, but 

 when the sun neared the horizon they were all off again 

 preparing for supper, which was not so hearty as one 

 might expect. 



As a rule the older the birds in the nest the oftener 

 they are fed, and from the size of the insect which the 

 parents bring the age of the young may be judged. 



The youngest birds are fed at longer intervals with 



♦Reprinted from Forest and Stream, Vol. XXII. p. 484, 1884. 



