PHASES OF BIRD LIFE. I9gl 
they could readily pick up a tidbit, it seemed to 
be a difficult task to get it back far enough into the 
mouth to swallow it. This was especially true of 
the thrasher, whose bill was long. How he would 
toss a morsel about, pinch it, fling it away, catch it 
up again, and pound it against a perch, before he 
could work it back into his capacious throat! 
They were amusing pets, those feathered pupils 
of mine. From them I have gained an insight into 
bird character which could have been gained in no 
other way. ‘The difficulty in observing birds in the 
wild state is, you cannot study them at close range, 
and hence cannot watch their development from 
day to day. None the less interesting were my 
little pupils because they had to depend on their 
own wits and learn their lessons without a pedagogue. 
How did they learn to bathe without being shown 
how! They learned it, that is sure; and they went 
through the exercise precisely as birds do in the wild- 
wood. ‘They would leap into the bath-dish, duck 
their heads into the water, flutter their wings and 
tails until thoroughly rinsed, and then fly up to a 
perch to preen their bedrenched plumage. But they 
made some mirth-provoking blunders. One day a 
wood-thrush got astride of the rim of his bath-tub, one 
leg outside and the other inside, and in that interest- 
ing position tried to take his ablution. He looked 
exceedingly droll, and seemingly could not under- 
stand why he did not succeed better. Another time 
the thrasher remained outside of the bath-dish, and 
thrust his head over the rim into the water, squat- 
