220 



Wild Birds 



are drawn off by hunger or .are blown out in a gale, but I be- 

 lieve that by far the greater number of such strays are driven 

 forth by fright, and when this perilous step has once been taken 



it can seldom be 

 retraced. The 

 young of such 

 birds as the Wil- 

 son Thrushes, 

 whose nests are 

 on or near the 

 ground out of the 

 reach of storms, 

 are often found in 

 this predicament. 

 It is an interest- 

 ing fact that the 

 huge pot-belly of 

 the young altri- 

 cial bird has a use 

 quite apart from 

 the function of 

 digestion. It an- 

 chors it to the 

 nest, and as in 

 the modern 

 "Brownie " keeps 

 it right side up. 

 The pliant vis- 

 cera conform to 

 every movement, 

 and form a cen- 



y filling the nest of 

 lothered : fearless, 



Fig. 133. Young Cowbird comforta 

 its foster parent, whose children it 

 though nearly ready to fly. 



t r a 1 supporting 



pillar long before the legs can sustain the weight of the body. 

 (See Fig. in.) 



Many immature birds which I have watched at the nest 

 show no precise powers of discrimination in any direction. You 

 will see them respond as promptly to the nutter of a leaf or the 



