XESTS AKD NESTLINGS. 



We call a boy or girl wlio learns very fast, 

 precocious. There are birds to wliicli this term 

 might be applied as well. Not all birds are 

 equally apt at learning, nor do all grow with 

 equal rapidity. Of three half-fledged wood 

 thrushes which I brought home from the woods 

 one day for pets, one of them was a good deal 

 larger than the rest, and hopped out of the nest 

 over a day before they did. He also was the 

 most intelligent, sang long before his mates did, 

 set them the example in everything, and even 

 showed them very soon that he was the auto- 

 crat of the cage. 



But the most curious instance of a young 

 bird's superiority to his fellow nestlings was 

 observed in a brown thrasher's nest which I 

 found one summer. One of the youngsters was 

 almost twice as large as the other occupants of 

 the bird homestead, his pinfeathers and quills 

 showing very plainly when I first discovered 

 the nest, while his little brothers were covered 

 only with soft fuzz and down. When I next 



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