296 TALKS WITH YOUNG OBSERVERS 



seemed to strike him. His attitude changed, 

 his form straightened up, and a thrill of excite- 

 ment seemed to run through him. I knew what 

 it all meant; something had whispered to the 

 bird, "Fly! " With a spring and a cry he was 

 in the air, and made good headway to a near 

 hemlock. 



Others left in a similar manner during that 

 day and the next, till all were out. 



Some birds seem to scatter as soon as they 

 are out of the nest. With others the family 

 keeps together the greater part of the season. 

 Among birds that have this trait may be named 

 the chickadee, the bluebird, the blue- jay, the 

 nuthatch, the kingbird, the phoebe-bird, and 

 others of the true flycatchers. 



One frequently sees the young of the phcebe 

 sitting in a row upon a limb, while the parents 

 feed them in regular order. Twice I have come 

 upon a brood of young but fully fledged screech- 

 owls in a dense hemlock wood, sitting close to- 

 gether upon a low branch. They stood there 

 like a row of mummies, the yellow curtains of 

 their eyes drawn together to a mere crack, till 

 they saw themselves discovered. 



Then they all changed their attitudes as if an 

 electric current had passed through the branch 

 upon which they sat. Leaning this way and 

 that, they stared at me like frightened cats till 

 the mother took flight, when the young fol- 

 lowed. 



The family of chickadees above referred to 

 kept in the trees about my place for two oi 



