178 HOMING WITH THE BIRDS 



tuck in the beak, go through the motion of regur- 

 gitation, stick the beak down in the open mouth 

 of the youngster, which quieted him, although I 

 am sure he got no food. I tried a number of times 

 and finally succeeded in getting a picture of the 

 male bird in this position, when one of his nestlings 

 was begging with particular insistence to be fed. 

 I captioned this picture: "When Father Robin 

 Regurgitates" without fully explaining the situa- 

 tion. I supposed that the picture would speak for 

 itself, that everyone was familiar with the feeding 

 habit of these very common birds, for they can be 

 seen carrying beakf uls of worms from early spring to 

 midsummer more frequently than any other of the 

 birds of our country, at least in the northeastern 

 United States. I understand that this picture has 

 been questioned. Both the picture and its title 

 are perfectly good natural history as they stand, 

 as to feeding. It is quite true that robins carry 

 worms in the beak to feed their young. It is 

 equally true that they peck a long time at ripe 

 fruit, which they swallow, and collect several ripe 

 berries. These they regurgitate. They also make 

 the pretense described above, while they regur- 

 gitate in yet another instance. After feeding the 

 young, they empty the cloaca, swallowing the 

 contents as they relieve each bird, and then 

 on wing as they fly from the nest, I have seen them 

 open their beaks and eject a stream half a yard in 

 length. 



