NESTS AND NESTLINGS. 41 



can for food ! How does it know that it is to 

 get its victuals in tliat way ? Its instinct is its 

 earliest teacher, and a wonderful teacher it is. 

 Of course the parent birds know beforehand 

 that their baby will want its dinner very soon 

 after it breaks from its shell, and so they pro- 

 vide a small delicacy of the kind best adapted 

 to the young bird's taste and stomach, and 

 thrust it into its open mouth well down its 

 throat. Then it is just as natural for the baby 

 to swallow as it is to open its mouth, and so 

 down its throat goes the tidbit. 



The infant birds will lie in the nest quietly 

 until they hear the rustle of the old bird's 

 wings as she flies to the rim of the nest, when 

 they will forthwith leap to their feet, crane 

 out their necks, and pry open their mouths 

 from ear to ear. Sometimes, if the mother has 

 a large worm or several worms in her mouth, 

 she will parcel them out to her crying brood, 

 until she has gone clear around the hungry 

 circle. Then she looks at them lovingly for a 

 moment, to see if they are all safe and well, 

 and presently darts away for another supply. 



But there are some birds which have a 

 very quaint way of feeding their downy bairns. 

 There, for instance, are the hummingbirds. 

 Mr. Bradford Torrey, one of the most pleasing 



