94 Bird - Lore 



the young to her, but they did not come, and she would feed them at last. 

 Once after she had gone, one of the nesthngs leaned out of the nest, looking 

 up and down, and straining against the side of the nest, with that peculiarly 

 significant motion that so suggests flight ; then it called and, as the male came 

 with food, it called again. 



The two old birds and the older nestling came now constantly back and 

 forth, to and from the nest, and their notes were heard most of the time. 

 Presently one nestling looked out, came to the side of the nest and, with a 

 curious half-frightened note, swayed forward as though about to leave the nest, 

 but fell back. The next time the female came to feed the young her calls were 

 so urgent that she nearly succeeded in getting them out of the nest, only 

 natural timidity preventing them. 



This particular calling of the female to the young was so different from any 

 of her other notes, and of so peculiar a quahty, that one could not fail to feel 

 and understand it. And at the same time, her whole body seemed to call the 

 young, and one could fancy that not only did her notes draw them toward her, 

 but that every motion of their small bodies indicated that her influence was 

 struggling with their fear. 



It is almost impossible to imagine what that first flight must mean. Ever 

 since the young bird was hatched, it has been crowded closely against its 

 fellows, in semi-darkness, with no chance to use its wings except to flap them 

 for exercise. Then suddenly there comes a time when it must leave all this, 

 and launch out into a world hardly seen, and trust to those unused wings to 

 laiid it safely. No wonder they hesitate. 



There are no words to interpret the yearning that is expressed in the motions 

 and notes of young birds, as they feel the first longing for flight. They look 

 out, and lean against the edge of the nest, seeming to struggle against it; then 

 there is the poising on the edge of the nest, the timid shrinking and falling 

 back, and then at last the courage of that final plunge into the air, the first 

 trial of the tiny soft wings that have been so cramped in the narrow, dark nest; 

 and then the wondering glances of the bright eyes, as the world "so beautiful, 

 so various, so new" opens before the escaped nestling. 



The male did not call the young, as the female did at this time, and he 

 had a way of silently jabbing the food into his offspring's open beak, that was 

 a great contrast to his mate's present volubility. As the afternoon wore on, 

 the female became more and more insistent in her calling, and the young 

 grew very restless, leaning out, and then flapping their wings so that they made 

 a great deal of noise. Once they made so much disturbance with their wings 

 that both parents flew up excitedly, to see what was the matter. Then the 

 female flew to a twig below the nest, and plainly called to the young to come 

 out. This time she succeeded, and the most adventurous of the young ones 

 took its first fhght. 



There was at once a great outcry from his relatives, as he awkwardly 



