126 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 84. 



Birds pretty well feathered out. End of the eighth day. 



Quill casings have nearly disap- End of the ninth day. 

 pea red. 



Feathers practically free of quill End of the tenth day. 

 casings. 



placed on my dress, No. 4 raised himself from his side, turned 

 over onto his belly, supported himself by his wing^s and heels, 

 and gave the food reaction all the time he was out of the nest ; 

 he threw himself about on the scale pan so that I had to guard 

 him constantly to keep him from throwing himself out of the 

 pan entirely. 



The young, as before, nestled together in the middle of the 

 nest, vibrating as one, their heads falling over each other. 



The end of the third day. All the young, save one, gave 

 the food reaction when out of the nest. They rested on their 

 feet and wings as well as the belly and moved forward on my 

 dress. Still their heads rested on one another in the nest, and 

 they lay in a limp, vibrating mass. 



The end of the fourth day. The young changed their posi- 

 tion in the nest, twittered when being fed, panted with the 

 heat, and gave the food reaction when they heard sounds 

 around the nest. One young bird lay with his head held up 

 against the rim of the nest, and one yawned. 



The end of the fifth day. All the young seemed very strong 

 and rested their heads against the rim of the nest, all gave the 

 food reaction when out of the nest and moved forward on my 

 dress. I had all that I could do to keep any of them on the 

 scale pan. The two older birds grasped the edge of the pan 

 with their claws. The rough interior of the nest enabled 

 them to move about freely. 



On this day, one of the birds fed a large, green caterpillar, 

 the larva of the cherry spinx moth, I think, to one of the young 

 in a peculiar manner. At both the first and second nest, the 

 parent birds usually thrust the insects well down into the 

 throat of the young. The Thrush laid this large caterpillar 

 across the open beak of the birds several times. Nestling 

 after nestling attempted to swallow the caterpillar, but if the 

 end remained in sight, the bird drew it from the throat again. 



