PHASES OF BIRD LIFE. 189 



family of young phcebes and their parents catching 

 insects on the wing. It was amusing. The old 

 birds evidently felt that it was about time for their 

 pupils to learn to provide their own victuals, but 

 the youngsters stoutly demanded that their lunch- 

 eons be brought them in the accustomed manner. 

 They must have noticed that the old birds would 

 occasionally catch an insect and dispose of it them- 

 selves. Once when the parent bird darted out for 

 a small cabbage butterfly, a young fellow swooped 

 down at her with such force that she let the insect 

 squirm out of her bill and flutter to the ground, 

 and thus make good its escape before she could re- 

 cover it. Both birds lost their dinner through the 

 greed and rashness of the little gourmand. Another 

 time an old bird caught a yellow butterfly, dashed 

 to a limb, and quickly gulped it down, wings and all, 

 before any of the presumptuous high- schoolers could 

 reach him. The bearing of the bird was most 

 laughable. Finally, several of the young birds darted 

 out into the air for passing insects, proving that they 

 were taking lessons in that fine art ; but their gym- 

 nastics were far from perfect, and they hit the mark 

 scarcely half the time. 



With most young birds music is a part of their 

 high-school curriculum. Perhaps you have thought 

 that they learn their lessons in vocal music without 

 special instruction, but this is not always the case. 

 Observation proves that the old birds have them 

 under tutelage, setting them lyrical copies, which 

 they are expected to learn by frequent rehearsal. 



