I30 Our Bird Fr/f.xds. 



coming of this happy time by leaving the nest far 

 too soon, and, ahas ! often pay for their impatience 

 ^vitli their hyes. 



Not lonof aoo 1 was wandering- alon^'side an old 

 hed<'-erow when I heard a faint, distressed sort of 

 cry coming i'rom a Ijunch of nettles, and, upon 

 lookino- closer, found a youn<4- Sons^ Thrusli in a yery 

 weak state. It could not % a bit, and I imagined 

 it must belong to a nest not far away. There ^vas 

 a tuft of iyy on the top of an old stump some fifteen 

 or twenty feet above, so up I went, Avith the youth- 

 ful traveller in my jacket pocket. Sure enough, 

 there Avas a Thrush's nest Avith tAvo yomig ones 

 about the same size as my friend in it ; so I 

 quietly popped him in l>etAveen them, and slid doAvn 

 the stump. Just as I got to the bottom, I espied 

 another adA^enturer hohling Avith both his Avings on 

 to some little twigs s[irouting out beloAv Avhere the 

 nest Avas situated, whilst his legs dangled doAvn 

 at fidl length. Up I Avent again, post-haste, but 

 regret to sav I Avas too late : the venturesome chick 

 Avas dead and cold. Happening to pass the ])lacc 

 a day or two afterwards Avith my brother, T Avns 

 telling him about the traged}^ Avhen he remarked, 

 " Why, there they are sitting,"' and piomptly 

 turned his camera upon tlie surviving trio and 

 photographed them, as shown in our illustration 

 (p. l.']2). 



The question as to the age at Avhich young 

 birds reared in nests commence to feed themselves 



