78 A-BIRDING ON A BRONCO. 



The birds liked best to be fed with a spoon ; prob- 

 ably it seemed more like a bill. After a little, 

 they learned to peck at their food, a sign I hailed 

 eagerly as indicative of future self-support ; for 

 with appetites of day laborers and no one to 

 supply their wants, they would have suffered 

 sorely, poor little orphans ! Sometimes, when they 

 had satisfied their first hunger, they would shake 

 the bread from their bills as if they didn't like it 

 and wanted food they were used to. 



When one got hungry he would call out, and 

 then his brother would begin to shout. The little 

 tots gave a crooning gentle note when caressed, 

 and a soft cry when they snuggled down in our 

 hands or cuddled up to us as they had done 

 under their mother's wing. Their call for food 

 was a sibilant chirr, and they gave it much oftener 

 than any of the grown-up woodpecker notes. 

 But they also said chuck'-ah and rattled like the 

 old birds. 



I was glad there were two of them so they would 

 not be so lonely. If separated they showed their 

 interest in each other. If Bairdi called, Jacob 

 would keep still and listen attentively, raising his 

 topknot till every microscopic red feather stood 

 up like a bristle, when he would answer Bairdi in 

 a loud manly voice. 



It was amusing to see the small birds try to 

 plume themselves. Sometimes they would take a 

 sudden start to make their toilettes, and both work 



