128 A WIDOW AND TWINS. 



therefore, I stole out to see. No : Number 

 Two was there alone. 



At seven o'clock, when I made my second 

 visit, the mother was in the midst of another 

 day's hard work. Twice within five minutes 

 she brought food to the nestling. Once the 

 little fellow not so very little now hap- 

 pened to be facing east, while the old bird 

 alighted, as she had invariably done, on the 

 western side. The youngster, instead of 

 facing about, threw back his head and 

 opened his beak. "Look out, there!" ex- 

 claimed my fellow-observer; "you '11 break 

 his neck if you feed him in that way." But 

 she did not mind. Young birds' necks are 

 not so easily broken. Within ten minutes 

 of this time she fed Number One, giving 

 him three doses. They were probably small, 

 however (and small wonder), for he begged 

 hard for more, opening his bill with an ap- 

 pealing air. The action in this case was 

 particularly well seen, and the vehement 

 jerking, while the beaks were glued together, 

 seemed almost enough to pull the young fel- 

 low's head off. Within another ten minutes 

 the mother was again ministering to Number 

 Two ! Poor little widow ! Between her in- 



