SOME GARDEN BIRDS 



wing bars, white cheeks, black top to its head, 

 black throat, and the black extending down 

 the front of its greeny yellow waistcoat. The 

 black down the breast is broader and extends 

 farther in the male, but otherwise the two 

 sexes are much alike. During the nesting 

 season both get shabby, and the hen is usually 

 very worn in her feathers before she gets the 

 young ones off ; indeed you would hardly know 

 her for the smart tidy bird that came house- 

 hunting in March. But the change is no matter 

 for wonder, considering how hard she and her 

 mate have to work from early morning to late 

 at night, bringing caterpillars and other grubs 

 in a vain endeavour to satisfy their ever 

 hungry young. The little ones keep up an 

 incessant squeaking, which rises higher every 

 time the old birds go near the nest, only dying 

 down for a moment after the food has been 

 delivered. All caterpillars are carefully pinched 

 and pecked to make sure they are dead before 

 being brought to the nest. I have watched a 

 bird take a fat green caterpillar under one 

 foot, and peck and pull until not a wriggle 

 was left in it, then take it in its beak and fly 

 down to the pump. The constant attention of 

 the parents has its reward, for the young grow 



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