SECOND ANNUAL MEETING 39 



feathers with their great clumsy beaks, and it was especially ludicrous 

 to see them bestow as much care upon the patches of bare skin as upon 

 their fe^v feathers. After si^ending- several days in the nest they sud- 

 denly became restless, refused to remain covered, and finally clambered 

 over the edg-e of the nest. They were without excejition the most in- 

 tractable youngsters I ever cared for. Wood thrushes, bluebirds and 

 orioles after leaving the nest were content to sit quietly for manj' 

 minutes at a time, and Avould remain on a j)erch waiting their turn to 

 be fed, fluttering their wings and begging while the others received at- 

 tention. But the grosbeaks were never still a minute. No sooner 

 wonld one get a mouthful than he Avould start off across the room 

 clambering over varioiis objects, or fluttering along the floor, all the 

 while uttering- his complaining note. Over and over they would have 

 to be brought back and fed. and only when their stomachs were fvill 

 would they become more quiet. They had a funny habit of standing 

 face to face, both mouths wide open, each begg'ing" the other to feed 

 him. They would also go to the dish which contained shreds of raw 

 meat and eyeing some piece which looked particularly tempting, would 

 open their mouths, flutter their wings and coax it to go in. 



Shortlj' after they had left their nest they showed an unwillingness 

 to be cuddled into it for the night, and as their plumage was still scant 

 I feared they would be cold xmless covered w^hile they slept. So a 

 perch was put across a small j)asteboard box and the birds put on the 

 perch, and then the top of the box was covered Avith flannel. Late in 

 the evening I peeiied in to see hoAv they were getting along. One of 

 the little birds was still clinging bravely to his perch, but his head was 

 hanging down nntil his beak touched the bottom of the box fully two 

 inches below the perch. He was rescued from his uncomfortable posi- 

 tion and not allowed to attempt that method of sleeping again nntil he 

 became stronger. They soon show^ed signs of tucking their heads under 

 their Avings while sleeping. One evening one of them w^as observed 

 asleep with his head very perceptibly tvirned to one side. The next 

 evening he got so far as to twist his head around until it touched his 

 side, but not imtil the third evening did he succeed in getting it into 

 a comfortable attitude for sleeping. I had always supposed that this 

 custom of birds was an actual thrusting of the head beneath the wing. 

 But my observations on half-fledged birds first showed me that the 

 wing remains in its natural position and the head is simx^ly laid along 

 the side just above tlie wing. After the birds are fully fledged the 

 feathers are fluffed about the head, completely concealing it and giv- 

 ing it the appearance of being hidden under the wing. For some time 

 I thought that all the young birds were going to turn their heads to 

 the left side, and was searching diligently for some structural reason 

 for it. when one evening one of the g'rosbeaks was caug-ht sleeping 

 with his head turned to the right, and from that time they were as 

 apt to sleep with the head turned one way as the other. 



