PHASES OP BIRD LIFE. I9I 



they could readily pick up a tidbit, it seemed to 

 be a difficult task to get it back far enough into the 

 mouth to swallow it. This was especially true of 

 the thrasher, whose bill was long. How he would 

 toss a morsel about, pinch it, fling it away, catch it 

 up again, and pound it against a perch, before he 

 could work it back into his capacious throat ! 



They were amusing pets, those feathered pupils 

 of mine. From them I have gained an insight into 

 bird character which could have been gained in no 

 other way. The difficulty in observing birds in the 

 wild state is, you cannot study them at close range, 

 and hence cannot watch their development from 

 day to day. None the less interesting were my 

 little pupils because they had to depend on their 

 own wits and learn their lessons without a pedagogue. 

 How did they learn to bathe without being shown 

 how ! They learned it, that is sure ; and they went 

 through the exercise precisely as birds do in the wild- 

 wood. They would leap into the bath-dish, duck 

 their heads into the water, flutter their wings and 

 tails until thoroughly rinsed, and then fly up to a 

 perch to preen their bedrenched plumage. But they 

 made some mirth-provoking blunders. One day a 

 wood-thrush got astride of the rim of his bath-tub, one 

 leg outside and the other inside, and in that interest- 

 ing position tried to take his ablution. He looked 

 exceedingly droll, and seemingly could not under- 

 stand why he did not succeed better. Another time 

 the thrasher remained outside of the bath-dish, and 

 thrust his head over the rim into the water, squat- 



