DOMESTIC LIFE OF THE BIRDS 



the young thrust their bills far down the throats of 

 the parents to procure the regurgitated food. From 

 this custom the ancients may have got the idea 

 that Pelicans feed their young with their own life 

 blood. The suggestion still persists, and on the 

 seal of one of our large life insurance companies of 

 America a Pelican and her young are represented 

 accompanied with the motto: " I live and die for 

 those 1 love." The great seal of the State of Louisi- 

 ana uses a similar picture without the motto. 



Hawks and Owls tear their prey to pieces and on 

 this the young feed at infrequent intervals. Some- 

 times several hours pass between the visits of the 

 food-laden parents, but the supply is usually ade- 

 quate when at length it arrives. 



Sharing the Labours. — Most young birds, however, 

 are fed with great frequency. For more than an 

 hour one day the writer watched a pair of Georgia 

 Mockingbirds feeding their young. The one that ap- 

 peared to be the female visited the nest with food on 

 an average once every two minutes, and the male 

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