A LESSON IN FEEDING 253 



As the olive-sided youngsters who visited 

 my grove progressed, I saw one day an in- 

 teresting scene between an old and a young 

 bird. It appeared to be a lesson in taking 

 food on the wing. The elder bird came fly- 

 ing around the tops of the trees calling " tu ! 

 tu ! " with the strange quavering addition I 

 have tried to describe. Instantly another rose 

 from a tree, uttering a similar cry, and flew 

 directly to the first one with mouth open, 

 plainly expecting food. The elder, as it 

 seemed he must be, held himself bent over 

 in a strange stooping attitude, as if reaching 

 down to the young one, while the latter was 

 almost perpendicular, with open beak held up. 

 The two beaks were not far apart and both 

 birds were calling. In this relative position 

 they passed beyond the trees. There could be 

 no doubt that it was an old and a young 

 bird, the former with food which the latter 

 desired, and if it were not an attempt to 

 teach the youngster to take food on the wing, 

 flycatcher fashion, what was it ? 



Another thing that puzzled me was the 

 conduct of a yellow warbler who seemed to 

 have assumed the manners of a humming- 



