42 BIRD FRIENDS 



the first lessons learned is how to fly. The parents 

 will often hold the food in front of the young and fly 

 from branch to branch to induce the young to do the 

 same. The young must also be taught where to find 

 their own food and how to pick it up. When the 

 young first leave the nest, they do not even know 

 how to pick up an insect. If food is brought and 

 placed beside them, they stand with heads thrown 

 back and mouths wide open, expecting to be fed 

 as they always have been while in the nest, and 

 make no attempt to pick up the food. The parents 

 teach the young by doing the action over and over 

 again before them, and then leaving the young be- 

 side the food for a long time. And besides these 

 there are many other lessons the young birds must 

 learn. 



This period of schooling is very brief, probably 

 only a few weeks, and in the case of birds that rear 

 two broods, the first brood is hardly properly taught 

 before the second brood is started. 



Enemies. During the time that the young are in 

 the nest and for a short time just after leaving it, the 

 birds are exposed to many dangers and fall victims 

 to their many enemies. Probably only a small pro- 

 portion of young birds ever reach maturity. From 

 the time the first egg is laid, the difficulties arise. 

 Some enemies destroy the eggs; such as the crow, 

 blue jay, and red squirrel. And sometimes boy egg- 

 collectors may devastate a whole neighborhood. 



