FIELD AND STUDY 



One of the parent birds was on hand instantly, 

 uttering an approving or an encouraging note, or 

 maybe only a note of solicitude. In the course of 

 two or three hours the two other birds left the nest 

 in a similar manner, except that there was no pre- 

 liminary chnging to the outside — they flew straight 

 from the opening to the old apple-tree, and the next 

 day were drifting about the orchard with their 

 parents. By fall or before, they will probably join 

 the earlier brood, which I think still lingers in this 

 vicinity, and the united families in a loose flock will 

 drift about this part of the country. 



In June I saw a brood of young wood thrushes 

 leave the nest. In all cases there seems to be one 

 bird a little more forward than the others. In this 

 case one of the young thrushes perched on the edge 

 of the nest for a few minutes and chirruped. Then, 

 in a blundering way, apparently more by accident 

 than design, it reached the big branch upon which 

 the nest was saddled. After a while it flew a few 

 feet to another branch. The two others, after similar 

 manoeuvring, joined it in the course of the day, but 

 neither of them left the apple-tree on that day. At 

 night there was a heavy thunder-shower with vio- 

 lent wind, and in the morning two of the young 

 thrushes were back in the nest. So, under excep- 

 tional circumstances, young birds do return to the 

 nest. If they had left the tree, it is quite certain they 

 would not have taken refuge in the nest. But the 



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