36 BIRD FRIENDS 



show that on the average many birds feed their 

 young about every four minutes, or about two hun- 

 dred times a day. 



In order to convey some idea of the vast amount 

 of food consumed by nestlings, a table is given below 

 showing the number of times the young are fed 

 hourly, during the day, as learned from actual ob- 

 servation. The number of visits varies with the age 

 of nestlings, as they are generally fed oftener when 

 nearly fledged than when first hatched. 



Kind of food. The kind of food fed the young is 

 usually the same kind that the adults use, which for 

 most birds is insects, but in the case of the seed-eat- 

 ing birds, like sparrows, the young are fed at first 



