THE BIRD STUDY BOOK 



able from the beginning to pick up their food, and 

 they quickly learn from the example of their parents 

 what is desirable. Soon they are able to shift for 

 themselves, although one or both of the parents 

 continue to attend them until grown. 



With the altricial birds the young are hatched in 

 an absolutely helpless condition, being both blind 

 and naked, and it is necessary that they be fed by 

 the parents, not only while occupying the nest, but 

 also for several weeks afterward. To this group 

 belong most of the small birds we are accustomed 

 to see about the house. When newly born the food 

 they receive is first digested in the crop or the 

 stomach of the parent from which it is regurgitated 

 into the mouth of the young. Flickers, Humming- 

 birds, Doves, and some others continue to feed their 

 young in this manner, but usually the method soon 

 gives way to that, more commonly observed, of 

 simply supplying soft-bodied insects which have 

 been captured and killed but not eaten. 



In the case of Pelicans, Cormorants, and Ibises, 

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