390 THE THRUSH FAMILY 



which show that in this species at least the habit is not invariable, 

 individuals having been seen both to swallow the pellicles and to 

 carry them off, in order sometimes to let them drop, sometimes to 

 inspect and devour them, in whole or part. 1 



Towards the end of a fortnight after birth the young are fledged. 

 They do not necessarily all go forth at the same time, unless scared. 

 I have found one left in sole possession of the nest seated erect in 

 the centre of it, almost a startling figure, seen thus with unaccustomed 

 spaces around it, looking out upon the world with that air of placid 

 but inflexible gluttony about the corners of the mouth that is peculiar 

 to young birds. The immediate causes of departure are various ; in 

 most cases, no doubt, the mere restlessness of a growing young 

 creature. In other cases it is due to accident, the bird, perched on 

 the edge of the nest or the back of its fellows, losing its balance in 

 moments of excited anticipation of a coming meal or when exercising 

 its wings. Once out of the nest, the young tend to scatter. They 

 keep moving, either upon the ground or among the branches, and 

 indicate their whereabouts to their parents by shrill notes, in the case 

 of blackbirds and thrushes the familiar Ptrrreep ! or Ptrrrik ! so 

 familiar to bird-lovers especially in May and June. They continue 

 to be assiduously fed for at least a fortnight. To what extent this is 

 done when the parents have started preparations for a second or third 

 brood has not been closely studied, but it is obvious that the greater 

 part of the work must then fall upon the cock, a fact which still 

 further helps to explain why he, though neglectful of his nest-building 

 and incubatory duties, does his share of the feeding. The following 

 notes relating to a pair of blackbirds are all that I have bearing on 

 this point, and they show little except that the young continue to be 

 fed after the second laying has begun. On May 26th or 27th the 

 young of the first brood were out of the nest. On June 7th the hen 

 was repairing the same nest. On June 9th there was one egg in the 



1 This variation in the behaviour of individuals within a species is further illustrated by 

 the greenfinch, the last bird, so one would think, to swallow the faeces. Yet a hen was 

 clearly seen to do so. See British Birds, iv. p. 80. 



