AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



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manner in which nearly all birds feed their young, but it is a difficult 

 situation to photograph as both the old and young are generally rapid- 

 ly moving at this instant. We see too that the fortunate young Vireo 

 that is being fed also has his head raised higher than his companions. 

 It is a fact that I have noticed in nearly all cases that I have observed, 

 that the young whose turn it is to be fed next will have his head the 

 highest. 



See the little fellow in front. What a supplicant expression he has. 

 I should judge that he was two or three days younger than the others, 

 but when it came his turn to partake of food, someway or other he 

 always managed to climb up over them so as to be ready. I know that 

 the Q^z from which this little fellow emerged had not hatched on the 

 day when the other two did, and one of the eggs did not hatch at all. 

 This one remained in the nest unbroken until all the young had flown. 



One other interesting feature is shown by the young bird on the 

 right. Notice the double impression of his lower mandible and the 

 sweep between them, while the upper mandible is sharp. This shows 

 that his head was rapidly oscillating about the upper bill as an axis. 

 This movement peculiar to all young birds is one of the chief causes of 

 failure when taking this class of photographs. The motion is usually 



