PHASES OF BIRD LIFE. 187 
just see here!” and they mount up into the air, 
poise, careen, and perform other extraordinary feats, 
while the youngsters gaze at them in wide-eyed 
wonder. At last, after much persuasion and many 
half-attempts, one of the youngsters spreads his 
pinions and flutters laboriously until he scrambles 
upon the nearest twig, with bated breath and throb- 
bing pulses. He is frightened half to death, but he 
has found that the friendly air will support him if he 
makes proper use of his wings, and so he will soon 
make another effort, and another, until he begins 
really to enjoy the exercise. However, several days 
may elapse before the youngest and weakest member 
of the class can muster sufficient courage to take his 
first aerial journey. 
Some species of birds graduate from the nest 
much sooner than others. In one case I observed 
that a family of goldfinches remained in the nest 
just seven days after a family of bush-sparrows, 
hatched on the same day, had taken their flight.? 
The yellow-billed cuckoo has given me no little 
surprise in this respect. When he first creeps out 
of his shell apartment, he is a callow, ungainly in- 
fant, black as coal, with a sparse covering of stiff 
bristles ; but almost before a week has passed, he 
has hopped from his washed-out cradle to try the 
realities of the great world around him. Why the 
agile little goldfinch should remain in the crib so 
much longer than his less dexterous fellow-pupil, 
1 This episode is referred to in the chapter on ‘ Nest- 
Hunting.” 
