WOOD AND WASTE 173 



form. He thus sat looking across his 

 shoulder, his head following her body slowly 

 and steadily, as iron does a magnet. All 

 the motions of the parent bird w^ere most 

 deliberate, although by this time her off- 

 spring Avas piping with impatience and 

 continuously shivering out both wings, but 

 especially the one nearest her. 



Still acting with tantalising slowness, she 

 finally reached the branch leading into the 

 nest and towards which his head now as 

 w^ell as his body pointed, and down this 

 bough she sidled till close to her eager 

 nestling. 



Then, again, she paused as if to calculate 

 the exact distance, bending her neck down 

 tow^ards the young one, who simultaneously 

 raised his head. Their beaks then met, the 

 old bird's overlapping that of the nestling, 

 and the contents of her crop were transferred 

 to his with curious swaying, undulatory 

 motions. This remarkable operation took 

 about three seconds, and I judged that the 

 food given w^as at least partially digested 

 from the absence of dilatation in the nestling's 

 outstretched neck. After staying for a few 



