BIRDS OF KANSAS 



35 



The male, however, was shy, and would not permit such 

 intimacy. 



The helpless nestlings must be fed, and this the parent, 

 or parents, as the case may be, proceed to do in many 

 curious and interesting ways. 



The bird parents are kept very busy when the nestlings 

 open their wide mouths and call for food. The Robins are 

 not at all timid at this time, and are very familiar figures 

 running over gardens and lawns looking for earthworms 

 and grubs. They can see them when we cannot, and stop 

 here and there at our very doorsteps to pull a stubborn 

 worm out of its retreat. It is hard to escape his keen 

 eyes. When a load is secured he flies to the waiting nest 

 and divides it among the hungry mouths. 



A few years ago the writer saw three young Kingbirds 

 sitting on a fence, all facing in the same direction. They 

 seemed almost grown and quite able to help themselves, 

 but the mother-bird did not seem to think so, for she flew 

 to a meadow near by, where grasshoppers were abundant, 

 and served* each of her babies in turn. She was very 

 methodical in her way of doing things, for she began at 

 one end of the row and gave each its insect in order, 

 repeating until each had been served four times. 



Quite in contrast to the table manners of the Robin are 

 those of the Flickers, who first eat the food themselves, 

 and then, thrusting their beaks into the throats of the 

 nestlings, empty the contents of their crops, in which it 

 has been partly digested. Our Pigeons have very much 

 the same habit, except that in this case the nestling puts 

 his beak into that of the parent and feeds on the copious 

 secretion of the crop, along with the grain that was eaten 

 and softened here. 



The Swallows are quite at home on the wing, and 

 when the nestlings have left the nest and can fly about 



