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Bird - Lore 



How they recognized a parent when still in the distance always puzzled 

 me. All six in a full nest will suddenly jump to their feet, begin to call lustily, 

 and then become almost frantic when the parent swoops up, pokes a bug 

 down the nearest throat, and is off again like a flash. This goes on most of 

 the day. Of course the old birds sit around the roofs and on the telephone 

 wires for short rests, and morning and evening fly off to the pond for water; 

 but at other times are always scouring the fields. Just before sunset, numbers 

 of them visit the pond, skimming over the surface, dexterously dipping their 

 bills occasionally or, if it is a very warm day, gaily splashing themselves as 

 they touch the water a little harder than usual. 



They soon learn that animals stir up insects, and so they follow the cows, 

 horses, and sheep, circling about them, now dipping, now rising after the 

 elusive prey. It is ludicrous to see a dog, or sometimes a solemn old rooster, 

 being gaily escorted across a field by a half-dozen busy Swallows who, in spite 

 of their speed, do not miss a single beetle. 



The young did not leave the nests until they could fly surprisingly well. 

 Then I began to see them upon the roofs or hovering about the shed rafters, 

 not far from the nests to which they usually returned at night, and, if now 

 I placed my hand over a crowded nest, the whole brood invariably flew out 

 with a great commotion. Their tail feathers were not so long, nor their colors 

 so bright or distinct, as those of their truly beautiful parents; but they had 

 the world before them, and they seemed to like it and go into it well equipped. 



TOWHEE NEAR NEST 

 Photographed by G. A. Bailey, Genesee, N. Y. 



