A WIDOW AND TWINS. 121 



The violence of the feeding act was now 

 at its height, I think, but it would be im- 

 possible to do justice to it by any descrip- 

 tion. My neighbor, who one day stood be- 

 side me looking on, was moved to loud laugh- 

 ter. When the two beaks were tightly 

 joined, and while the old bird's was being 

 gradually withdrawn, they were shaken con- 

 vulsively, by the mother's attempts to dis- 

 gorge, and perhaps by the young fellow's 

 efforts to hasten the operation. It was plain 

 that he let go with reluctance, as a boy sucks 

 the very tip of the spoon to get the last drop 

 of jam; but, as will be mentioned in the 

 course of the narrative, his behavior improved 

 greatly in this respect as he grew older. 



On the 12th, just after the little ones had 

 been fed, one of them got his wings for the 

 first time above the wall of the nest, and 

 fluttered them with much spirit. He had 

 spent almost a fortnight in the cradle, and 

 was beginning to think he had been a baby 

 long enough. 



From the first I had kept in mind the 

 question whether the feeding of the young 

 by regurgitation, as described briefly by 

 Audubon, and more in detail by Mr. Wil- 



