164 



AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



ones and returned them to the side of their mates, who had already 

 been carefully focussed in the camera. After having once tested their 

 wings and found that they could use them they were not content to sit 

 quietly in a row with their brothers, and every few minutes one or the 

 other would make a short excursion, and it was only after a number of 

 attempts that they understood that we wished them to sit where we put 

 them. Even then the lesson was but half learned for at frequent in- 

 tervals after one of them had to be brought back. 



The old birds did not seem to be alarmed as to the safety of their 

 little ones and quietly perched on each side of us watching until we had 

 the whole lot arronged to our satisfaction, and then one of them flew 

 away after food. Soon he returned and at once went to feed the young 

 while his mate flew away after some more. They continued this routine 



Fig. 6. 



A LONG REACH. 



Photo from life by C. A. Reed. 



performance for some time, one "going as soon as the other returned. 

 Fig. 3 shows how the female serves food, while Fig. 4 shows how the 

 male bird gives his antidote for hunger. You will notice that on each 

 of these occasions, one of the little ones had taken his departure. He 

 was a very forward fellow and thought that he was entirely competent 

 to look after himself. 



vSeeing how regular the adults were in taking turns feeding the 

 young we began to scheme to see if we could not get both of them to 

 alight on the branch at the same time. We finally hit upon a plan that 

 worked to perfection. As soon as one of the birds had left, by walking 

 up to the little ones we could keep the other from delivering his pro- 

 vender until we saw his mate returning. In this way we managed on 

 several trips to get both of the adults on the branch at once. Fig. 5 is 

 a group portrait of the entire family. The bird on the right is the 



