58 BIED NOTES 



As for the parent it generally popped the bit 

 into one of the open mouths as it flew by ; some- 

 times into two ; once or twice I saw it catch hold 

 of the edge of the roof for a moment to steady its 

 aim at an open mouth. This was not unnecessary, 

 for I saw one precious morsel dropped 'twixt beak 

 and beak. 



Two or three times the bird flew close to them 

 without giving anything ; had it dropped or 

 swallowed it ? That caused disappointment evi- 

 dently, there was a general dulling. I watched 

 till my neck ached, and then went up higher, but 

 hearing some noisy boys coming up I turned to 

 look again, and saw that all the little things had 

 been frightened away except one. Was it the 

 weak one ? The ' solidarite ' of the group was 

 what struck me so much ; it was like that of the 

 long-tailed tits. How different from the selfish 

 greediness of the young chaffinches ! 



