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Wild Birds 



according to Audubon, will sometimes eat to such excess as to 

 be unable to fly, and a number of wounded birds of this species 

 which he kept in a cage ate of apples until suffocated. When 

 opened they were found to be filled to the mouth. 



The automatic response given by the young is the signal 

 awaited by the old bird, though often with impatience. The 



Fig. us. Female Redwing Blackbird placing food in the throat of 

 a nestling. 



insect, after being placed in a nestling's throat, is watched until 

 it disappears. Should it stick at the gullet it is withdrawn and 

 replaced time and again, or given a gentle pull, until it is safely 

 down. Sometimes the insect is deprived of its legs or wings, 

 bruised against a twig, beaten into a pulp, or crushed and torn 

 asunder between the bills of the parent birds before it can be 

 safely delivered. As has already been seen, many birds utter a 

 peculiar note as a special stimulus to the young. At such times 



