362 THE LIFE OF A BIRD. 



old, the secretion of milk ceases in the parents, 

 and the young are then fed on the food common 

 to their parents also. 



Mr. Jenyns, in his recently published volume 

 of Observations on Natural History, has the fol- 

 lowing singular and interesting account of the 

 manner in which the collared or African turtle 

 acts towards its young during the time when the 

 milky secretion is supplied to the young from the 

 parents. Several individuals of this species being 

 in confinement, afforded an excellent opportunity 

 for witnessing the whole proceeding. The old 

 bird opening its beak to the full extent, the young 

 plunges its own almost, as it were, down the 

 throat of its parent, whose efforts to regurgitate 

 the required food into the mouth of its offspring 

 are distinctly visible. But what appeared parti- 

 cularly singular was, the persevering and often 

 fruitless endeavour made by the young to induce 

 the parent to open its mouth for this purpose. 

 This is especially the case when the young are 

 nearly full fledged, and partially able to feed 

 themselves, and when, perhaps, the usual secretions 

 of the parent's crop are beginning to fail. Under 

 such circumstances the young become a very 



