1 86 



Wild Birds 



seen projecting an inch or more from the mouth of the strug- 

 gling bird. 



The cicada is even tougher and harder to manage, but is 



beaten into sub- 

 ject i o n , and 

 served up in a 

 limp condition. 

 One day in Au- 

 gust I watched 

 a street combat 

 between one of 

 these cicadae 

 and a House 

 Sparrow. The 

 insect was 

 bounding up 

 and down on 

 the ground and 

 sounding its 

 crescendo at an 

 alarming rate, 

 but unable to 

 avoid the blows 

 which rained 

 from the Spar- 

 row's bill. As 

 the music of the 

 dying cicada fi- 

 nally ceased, the 

 Sparrow picked 

 up his victim 

 and bore it off 

 to his brood. 

 Ill 



GROWTH OF THE NESTLING 



The phenomenal growth of the young bird at the nest will be 

 appreciated when we reflect that in two weeks it increases in 



Fig. 116. Female Kingbird assisting a grampus down the 

 throat of a nestling. The long gray wings of this insect are 

 protruding from the mouth. 



