76 A-BIRDING ON A BRONCO. 



little finger, coming bill to bill with his brother, 

 when the small bird would open his mouth as he 

 used to for his mother to feed him. Poor little 

 orphans, they could not get used to their changed 

 conditions ! 



They did other droll things just as their fathers 

 had done before them. They used to screw their 

 heads around owl fashion, a very convenient thing 

 for wild birds who cling to tree trunks and yet 

 need to know what is going on behind their backs. 

 Once, on hearing a sudden noise, one of them 

 ducked low and drew his head in between his 

 shoulders in such a comical way we all laughed at 

 him. 



I often went up to the ranch to visit them. We 

 would take them out under a big spreading oak 

 beside the house, where the little girl's mother sat 

 with her sewing, and then watch the birds as we 

 talked. When we put them on the tree trunk, 

 at first they did not know what to do, but soon 

 they scrambled up on the branches so fast their 

 guardian had to climb up after them for fear they 

 would get away. Poor little Jacob climbed as if 

 afraid of falling off, taking short hops up the side 

 of the tree, bending his stiff tail at a sharp angle 

 under him to brace himself against the bark. 

 Bairdi, his strong brother, was less nervous, and 

 found courage to catch ants on the bark. Jacob 

 did a pretty thing one day. When put on the 

 oak, he crept into a crack of the bark and lay 



