PHASES OF BIRD LIFE. 187 



just see here ! " and they mount up into the air, 

 poise, careen, and perform other extraordinary feats, 

 while the youngsters gaze at them in wide-eyed 

 wonder. At last, after much persuasion and many 

 half-attempts, one of the youngsters spreads his 

 pinions and flutters laboriously until he scrambles 

 upon the nearest twig, with bated breath and throb- 

 bing pulses. He is frightened half to death, but he 

 has found that the friendly air will support him if he 

 makes proper use of his wings, and so he will soon 

 make another effort, and another, until he begins 

 really to enjoy the exercise. However, several days 

 may elapse before the youngest and weakest member 

 of the class can muster sufficient courage to take his 

 first aerial journey. 



Some species of birds graduate from the nest 

 much sooner than others. In one case I obseived 

 that a family of goldfinches remained in the nest 

 just seven days after a family of bush-sparrows, 

 hatched on the same day, had tdken their flight. ^ 

 The yellow-billed cuckoo has given me no little 

 surprise in this respect. When he first creeps out 

 of his shell apartment, he is a callow, ungainly in- 

 fant, black as coal, with a sparse covering of stiff 

 bristles ; but almost before a week has passed, he 

 has hopped from his washed-out cradle to try the 

 realities of the great world around him. Why the 

 agile little goldfinch should remain in the crib so 

 much longer than his less dexterous fellow-pupil, 



' This episode is referred to in tiie chapter on " Nest- 

 Hunting.'' 



