THE VILLAGE THRUSH 85 



beetle ; he was holding the creature in 

 the middle of its body, and he tried to 

 place it in one of the wide-open beaks. 

 As the beetle refused to bend, it lodged 

 across the beak, and would not go 

 down. He pushed and pushed, then tried 

 another beak, it would not go down that 

 and so he went all round the nest. What 

 was he to do ? He stood there looking 

 quite disappointed that this fine large 

 beakful could not be swallowed. All the 

 time the five young birds were clamour- 

 ing for it, and again he attempted to put 

 it down, but as each attempt was a 

 failure he suddenly thought of a new 

 way. As the beetle was wriggling all 

 this time he could not leave go of it ; 

 so placing his head on one side, he was 

 able to force it head-first down a baby 

 Thrush's beak, and to prevent it wrig- 

 gling back he pushed it well down ! I 

 thought the youngster would choke, but 

 not so, for with a few big gulps the beetle 



