A WIDOW AND TWINS.  ~—=«121 
The violence of the feeding act was now 
at its height, I think, but it would be im- 
possible to do justice to it by any descrip- 
tion. My neighbor, who one day stood be- 
side me looking on, was moved to loud laugh- 
ter. When the two beaks were tightly 
joined, and while the old bird’s was being 
gradually withdrawn, they were shaken con- 
vulsively, — by the mother’s attempts to dis- 
gorge, and perhaps by the young fellow’s 
efforts to hasten the operation. It was plain 
that he let go with reluctance, asa boy sucks 
the very tip of the spoon to get the last drop 
of jam; but, as will be mentioned in the 
course of the narrative, his behavior improved 
greatly in this respect as he grew older. 
On the 12th, just after the little ones had 
been fed, one of them got his wings for the 
first time above the wall of the nest, and 
fluttered them with much spirit. He had 
spent almost a fortnight in the cradle, and 
was beginning to think he had been a baby 
long enough. 
From the first I had kept in mind the 
question whether the feeding of the young 
by regurgitation, as described briefly by 
Audubon, and more in detail by Mr. Wil- 
