6o 



Wild Birds. 



the young gave the call-notes repeatedly, but the old birds usually approached without a 

 sound, and were never both at the nest at the same time. On the next day the mother 



bird was feeding the young before I 

 could set up the tent. Both birds 

 came frequently bringing black cher- 

 ries and grasshoppers. At each feed- 

 ing the following order of events was 

 usually observed : the parent sounds 

 the call-note at a distance, to which 

 the young reply, but observes strict 

 silence in drawing near; the j'oung 

 are fed, inspected, and cleaned ; the 

 old bird flies to a convenient perch, 

 rubs the bill clean, plumes, and speeds 

 off to the nearest cherry trees. 



In the course of the forenoon 

 these fledglings became very restless, 

 and as the heat from the sun increased, 

 one crawled out, sat in the shadow 

 of the leaves, and finalh' dropped to 

 the grass. Here it was immediately 

 fed, and then hopped away surprisingly 

 fast. The male enticed it along, and 

 thereafter took care of it, while the 

 mother returned to her remaining nest- 

 ling. Twenty minutes later, the last 

 fledgling had left the nest, never to return, and the curtain was immediately rung 

 down. The young had spent exactly two weeks in their temporary home, and had the 

 \\'eather been cooler they might have tarried at least two daj's longer. 



At this age the crest is not very prominent, and instead of the jet-black, triangular 

 blind which surrounds the eve in an okl bird, the crown of the head is encircled by a 

 light band, passing above the eye. At the age of ten da\-s, or a little earlier, the tubes 

 of the wing-quills burst, and the red wax-like tips of the secondaries, when present at all, 

 also appear, or at least did appear in the )'oung from this nest. 



When about read)* to Hy and waiting to be fed the }-(iung have the peculiar habit 

 alread)' noticed of standing erect -with upturned heads. A nest of these birds, in 

 this attitude makes a curious picture. Any danger signal is now likeh' to bring 

 them riff in an instant. This particular brood had their abode in a pine tree close to our 

 hf)use. On July 17th, shortly before the pictui-e was made, the family of five was stand- 

 ing bolt upi-ight, all facing one wa}', as if under niilitai-_v discipline. When their branch 

 ^\•as touched all but the two shown in Fig. I 17 gained the nearest trees in their first flight 

 and escaped. This pair came t(i the ground, and A\-ere replaced in the nest. In their second 

 attempt made ten minutes later, the larger of the two birds was more successful. It flew 

 to the roof of the barn, imt far abo\-e it, and after hopping to the ridge-pole, made the 

 upper branches of a tall elm. In the larger of the two birds the black band of velvety 



Fig. 45. Devouring the excreta ; an unusual attitude. 



