76 JNSECTIVOROaS BIRDS 



They seem to require teaching as to the manipulation of the 

 bulkier items of their food. Last summer Mr. Graham 

 watched a mother give a young bird a lesson. The latter 

 was trying to reduce a large caterpillar to a condition fit for 

 swallowing by beating it with the bill. After a few strokes, 

 to show how it should be done, the mother would leave the 

 young bird to finish. Sometimes the object would be picked 

 up and handed over without further treatment, while at 

 other times it would Lave to be repeated often before the 

 food was finally ready for swallowing. I have observed 

 these actions many times, and on one occasion I spent at 

 least fifteen minutes carefully watching the method of 

 procedure. After leaving the nest the young wrens, male 

 and female, are alike in outward appearance till the fifth 

 month, when the first moult takes place. After this the 

 males are distinguished from the females, young or old, by 

 their light blue tails. These remain the outward symbol 

 of their sex till the second moult, in the tenth or eleventh 

 month, when they assume the full plumage of blues and 

 blacks, with a still darker blue tail. The bill also becomes 

 a darker colour, and finally a jet black. It wears this 

 spring and summer suit till the third moult, generally in 

 February or eatly March, when the change is to grey for a 

 season more or less prolonged. With the older males there 

 seems to be no regular time for recovering their blues and 

 blacks, as individuals can be found moulting the grey from 

 the middle of April to the end of September. This season 

 seems favourable to an early recovery of their blue dress, 

 as at the moment (June, 1899) there are more coloured 

 wrens than seen for many years. In August the family is 

 disbanded, the males attacking and driving away the 

 younger members of their sex, and the old females doing 

 the same, though at a slightly later period. Another token 



