on the Pied Rock-Thiush.



283



and very shortly on low thick perches in lieu of rocks. But a few

days afterwards, sitting side by side with its mother on one of

the highest perches in the aviary, all the fore parts above and

below were seen to bear an aspect of light gray, the mother

looking quite dark and, later, black by comparison ; and this gray

cloud which enveloped the fledgeling was only accentuated if

examined through a binocular. When it first left the nest at

seventeen days of age, it carried but a few specks of down, and

these on the crown only. This obscurity of plumage did not

extend to the tail-coverts, which very soon shewed up bright

and clear, chestnut and rufous; and the tail itself quickly shot

out, so that at a distance the nestling might have been taken for

its mother ; but a glance through the binocular shewed that the

tail was more shady ; and the bill, of a yellow-brown colour,

retained its nestling characteristics for what seemed to be an

unusual time. Just at first, the crown and nape of the first nest¬

ling were considerably darker than the rest of the body plumage,

whereas in the second no difference was apparent; but the differ¬

ence in plumage between the two birds at a later date, although

still there, was scarcely noticeable. The crown region in a dead

nestling was deep bluish ; probably this becomes obscured as the

feathers develop. I observe that I have a note respecting a ten-

day-old nestling which died here years ago that round the inside

of the open mouth, at the front, there was a circle of yellow,

doubtless for the assistance of the parents when feeding in a dark

place. Unfortunately I omitted to examine the mouths of the

two nestlings which died this year. The fledgelings were very

strong on their legs from the moment they left the nest, bounding

along like kangaroos, when alarmed helping their onward flight

with outstretched wings.* They were very quiet, both before and

after they had left the nest ; and. when they opened their mouths

at the approach of a parent, their little cry of ske-e-e-e could not

be heard at any distance, and would not attract the attention of a

non-aviculturist. This cry developed later into a simple skwee.


We are told that—“ Birds of the year much resemble the



* The adult bird does not hop. It often flies to the ground after an insect, &c., but

does not stay there, and uses its wings when moving from place to place. If, say, it has to

scurry after an escaping insect, it will make short darts and runs, but I have never seen

it hop.—R. P.



