The Food of Nestling Birds. 17 



During fifty -live consecutive minutes .. 20 visits 



Between 3.;")0 and 7.55 p.m 25 „ 



During six and a-half hours 79 „ 



„ six and a-quarler hours 45 „ 



Thus, "during a total period of 17 hours, representing 

 approximately the hours of one day during which food was 

 collfcctcd for the young, 1(39 journeys were made to the nest." 

 This is in all probability much under the average. 



Our knowledge of the nature and amount of food con- 

 suiDcid by nestling l)irds is as yet very meagre. The subject 

 is an important one, for many birds that in the 

 adult comliiion feed upon both animal and vegetable matter, feed 

 their young almost entirely upon insects, worms, and slugs. In- 

 deed, from the nature of the structure of the stomach of a 

 newly -hatched bird it may be generally concluded that most 

 birds (excluding aquatic and raptorial species) feed their 

 young on soft food, which largely consists of insects, slugs, 

 spiders, and worms. 



The following observations have been made : — 



(i) In the case of the Starling and House Sparrow, 

 from behind a curtained window. Many of the birds alighted 

 on the window-sill before entering their nest, or lodged upon 

 th^j outside projecang beams beneath the roof. With the aid 

 of a pair of field glasses (and more often without) the na- 

 ture of the food could be quite easily made out; 



(ii) from examination of the fieces of the nestlings; and 



(iii) from an examination of the stomach contents of 

 179 nestlings of the Starling, House Sparrow, Song Thrush, 

 and Blackbird. 



I.-FIELD OBSERVATIONS. 

 Starling (Sturnus vulgaris, Limi.). 



Observations were made on May ilth, 12th, 18th, 19th, 

 and 26th. On the first four dates the numbers of visits 

 were counted for sixty minutes, and were as follows: — 38, 36, 

 32, 28; a series of counts made on May 27th gavo the: 

 following results:— 28, 28, 27, 26, the average working out 

 at 32.2 visits per hour. On May 11th, the first visits com- 

 menced soon after 4 a.m., and continued until noon, when they 

 became less frequent, and between 12-30 and 2-30 p.m. only 

 about 25 visits were made. The number of visits again rose, 



