A WIDOW AND TWINS. 119 
view. Possibly, as human infants get ex- 
ercise by dandling on the mother’s knee, the 
baby humming-bird gets his by this paren- 
tal kneading process. Whether brooding 
or feeding, it must be said that the hummer 
treated her tiny charges with no particular 
carefulness, so far as an outsider could 
judge. 
The next day I climbed again into the 
tree. The mother bird made off at once, 
and did not resume her seat for almost an 
hour, though she would undoubtedly have 
done so earlier but for my presence. Again 
and again she perched near me, her bill 
leveled straight at my face. Finally she 
alighted on the nest, and, after considerable 
further delay, as if to assure herself that 
everything was quite safe, fed the two chicks 
from her throat, as before. ‘She thrust 
her bill into their mouths so far’ (1 quote 
my notes) “that the tips of their short little 
beaks were up against the root of her man- 
dibles!” 
Only once more, on the 4th of July, I 
ventured into the apple-tree. For more than 
an hour and ahalf I waited. Times without 
number the mother came buzzing into the 
