488 LAND BIRDS 
teen days, and during this time, although the male is fre- 
quently left in charge of the nest, I have never seen him 
attempt to brood the eggs, as the mother does. He will 
perch on the side of the nest, look at the contents with 
head cocked sidewise in a comical mixture of pride and 
masculine helplessness in the care of infants. He knows 
something is necessary to keep the wonderful treasure 
warm, but just how to go about if is a puzzle. But 
when those four duli eggs have become a nest full of 
queer-looking babies, he knows exactly what to do. 
They are hungry, and who can feed them so deftly as he ? 
So, from dawn to dusk, he is hustling in true Western 
fashion for bugs of all sorts and varieties, for fruit and 
berries. Later he will show these same nestlings how 
to extract an acorn from the store of the California wood- 
pecker, how to crack a pine nut, how to hold a piece of 
meat in their strong claws and tear off bits of it, how 
to dash into the ice-cold water and enjoy the morning 
plunge, how to shake each little feather and dry and 
comb it into place again, how to frolic among the tall 
pine trees or over the sand dunes following the leader, 
how to hide motionless in the shadows when the hawk 
flies by, and, alas! how to wait until helpless nest- 
lings are left alone and then sneak up and steal one. 
All this and more will they learn of the lore of the 
woods, which every wild creature must know if he would 
live. That most of these habits are acquired only by 
imitation is thoroughly proven by the helplessness of 
those birds which have been taken from the nest when 
young and raised in captivity. Although liberated as 
