PHASES OF BIRD LIFE. 189 
family of young phoebes and their parents catching 
insects on the wing. It was amusing. The old 
birds evidently felt that it was about time for their 
pupils to learn to provide their own victuals, but 
the youngsters stoutly demanded that their lunch- 
eons be brought them in the accustomed manner. 
They must have noticed that the old birds would 
occasionally catch an insect and dispose of it them- 
selves. Once when the parent bird darted out for 
a small cabbage butterfly, a young fellow swooped 
down at her with such force that she let the insect 
squirm out of her bill and flutter to the ground, 
and thus make good its escape before she could re- 
cover it. Both birds lost their dinner through the 
greed and rashness of the little gourmand. Another 
time an old bird caught a yellow butterfly, dashed 
to a limb, and quickly gulped it down, wings and all, 
before any of the presumptuous high-schoolers could 
reach him. The bearing of the bird was most 
laughable. Finally, several of the young birds darted 
out into the air for passing insects, proving that they 
were taking lessons in that fine art; but their gym- 
nastics were far from perfect, and they hit the mark 
scarcely half the time. 
With most young birds music isa part of their 
high-school curriculum. Perhaps you have thought 
that they learn their lessons in vocal music without 
special instruction, but this is not always the case. 
Observation proves that the old birds have them 
under tutelage, setting them lyrical copies, which 
they are expected to learn by frequent rehearsal. 
