BIRDS 



I67 



Fighting? What birds do you observe whipping or driving 

 birds larger than themselves? Which parent do young 

 birds most resemble? Name the purposes for which birds 

 sing. Which senses are very acute? Why? Dull? Why? 

 Can you test your statements by experiment? A part- 

 ridge usually sits with 18 to 24 eggs in nest. About how 

 long after laying first egg before sitting begins? Do 

 several partridge hens lay in the same nest? 



Haunts. — Name some 1 

 birds that aie found most, 

 often in the following lo> 

 calities: about our homes, 

 #C;VT~>?c~). in gardens and orchards, 

 fields and meadows, in 



Fig. 310. — House Wren. 

 Colours.- 



bushes, in the woods, in 

 secluded woods, around 

 streams of water, in 

 thickets, in pine woods. 

 Size. — Name birds as 

 large as a robin or larger, 

 nearly as large, half as 

 large, much smaller. 

 -Which sex is more brilliant? Of what advant- 

 age are bright colours to one sex? Of what advantage are 

 dull colours to the other sex? Which have yellow breasts, 

 red patch on heads, red or chestnut breasts, blue backs, 

 black all over? 



Habits-Name the birds that walk, jump, swim, live in 

 flecks, sing while flying, fly in undulations, in circles, 

 have laboured flight. 



Economic Importance of Birds. — Farmers find their 

 most valuable allies in the class aves, as birds are the dead- 

 liest enemies of insects and gnawing animals. To the in- 

 numerable robbers which devastate our fields and gardens, 

 nature opposes the army of birds. They are less numerous 



