174 IN THE MIDDLE COUNTRY. 



rapturous song, even sang while flying over to 

 the next tree. From this time they almost 

 abandoned the ladder they had been so fond of, 

 and flew directly to the nest from the ground, 

 where they got all their food. This change was 

 not because they were hard worked ; I never saw 

 birds who took family cares more easily. At the 

 expiration of three days the mother brooded no 

 more, and indeed it would have troubled her to 

 find a place for herself, the nest was so full. 



Every morning on entering the court I called 

 at the nest, and always found five yellow beaks 

 turned to the front. On the third day the heads 

 were covered with slate-colored down; on the 

 fourth, wing-feathers began to show among the 

 heads, but the body was still perfectly bare ; on 

 the fifth, the eyes opened on the green world 

 about them, they were then certainly five days 

 old, and may have been seven ; owing to our 

 unfortunate absence at the critical time I cannot 

 be sure. On the seventh day the red-brown of 

 the back began to show, and the white of the 

 breast made itself visible, while the heads began 

 to look feathery instead of fuzzy. Even then, 

 however, they took no notice when I put my 

 finger on them. 



Long before this time the manner of the 

 parents had changed. In the first place, they 

 were more busy ; foraging industriously on the 



