NESTLING BIRDS AND THEIR FOOD 



NESTLING BIRDS AND THEIR FOOD 



Young birds grow rapidly, and consequently they 



must have an abundance of food. When there is a 



shortage of provender, the strongest bird in the nest 



gets the greater bulk of the food, and its less robust 



brothers and sisters 



slowly weaken and 



die. 



There are many 



tragedies in the 



family life of birds. 



The weather may 

 be cold and rainy, 

 and insects hard to 

 find. The parents 

 in their desperate 

 eagerness to feed 

 their hungry child- 

 ren neglect their own needs, and one or both perish. 

 In the^ latter instance, of course, the entire brood 

 inevitably dies. When one parent succumbs or is 

 slain by an unthinking boy, the other makes heroic 

 efforts to provide a sufficiency of food for the family ; 

 but notwithstanding its struggles, the majority of the 

 brood wilt and perish. 



Young birds remain in the nest from little over a 

 week to several months, according to the species. 

 The average is from two weeks to a month. The 

 majority of birds, after leaving the nest, continue to 



189 



A Nestling Bird will eat its own weight of 

 nrubs in twenty- four hours. 



