EDUCATION. 267 



" I gave her the nest ready made, at least the little basket which 

 forms the framework and walls of the structure. Then she made the 

 mattress, and felted the interior coating, but in a very indifferent 

 manner. Afterwards slie sat on her egg for sixteen days witli a 

 perseverance, a fervour, a maternal devotion which w^ere astonishing, 

 scarcely rising for a few minutes in the day from her fatiguing posi- 

 tion, and only when the male was ready to take her place. 



" At noon on the sixteenth day the shell was broken in tw^o, and 

 we saw, struggling in the nest, a pair of little wings without feathers, 

 a couple of tiny feet, a something which struggled to rid itself entirely 

 of its envelopment. The body was one large stomach, round as a ball. 

 The mother, with great eyes, outstretched neck, and fluttering wings, 

 from the edcre of the basket looked at her child, and looked at me 

 also, as if to say : ' Do not come near!' 



" Except some long down on the wrings and head, it was com- 

 pletely naked. 



" On this first day she only gave it some drink. It opened, how- 

 ever, already a bill of good proportions. 



" From time to time, that it might breathe the more easily, 

 she moved a little, then replaced it under her wing, and rubbed it 

 gently. 



" The second day it ate but a very light beakful of chickweed, 

 well prepared, brought in the first place by the father, received by 

 the mother, and transmitted by her with short, quick chirps. In 

 all probability this was given rather for medicinal purposes than as 

 food. 



" So long as the nursling has all it requires, the mother permits 

 the male bird to fly to and fro, to go and come, to attend to his 

 occupations. But as soon as it asks for more, the mother, with her 

 sweetest voice, summons the purveyor, who fills his beak, arrives in 

 all haste, and transmits to her the food. 



" The fifth day the eyes are less prominent ; on the sixth, in the 

 morning, feathers stretch along the wdngs, and the back grows darker ; 

 on the eighth it opens its eyes when called, and begins to stutter : 



