" BLUEY ' 79 



us peep into the Bluebirds' nest as one by one the 

 eggs open. 



For many days these tiny creatures will have 

 but two ideas, eating and sleeping. These to them 

 represent life, and they respond with wonderful 

 rapidity to their inspiration. Now that the hatch- 

 ing has come at last, great indeed is the excitement 

 while the industrious parents keep up a steady 

 search for insects with which to feed their ever 

 hungry brood. With the first light of day they are 

 out, searching diligently for the early insects in the 

 dew -laden grass, and not until long after the sun 

 has disappeared behind the western hill do the 

 hungry youngsters stop crying for food. 



At first the fledglings were anything but beauti- 

 ful small, fat, shapeless, naked bodies with long 

 slender necks, and heads so much too large, and 

 with closed eyes that but added to their grotesque 

 appearance. At the slightest sound all their heads 

 would be instantly elevated, and with sundry 

 squeaks their mouths would open so wide that it 

 looked as if they could swallow themselves. If no 

 food was forthcoming, the heads, after swaying 

 unsteadily for a few moments, would one by one 

 drop, and once more form part of that hot, heaving, 

 shapeless mass. Rapidly these youngsters grew, 

 assuming shape and gathering strength ; feathers, 

 too, began to appear, and by the time they were a 

 few days old their eyes were open, and the naked 

 bodies were partly clothed. It does not take long 

 for young birds to attain their full size ; each day 

 makes a difference in their appearance that must be 

 seen, to be realised. What pleasure must the change 



