I04 Life and Love. 



feeling of parental love, the bird is subject, as has 

 been seen, to many physical changes during the 

 period of reproductive activity. Not only does it 

 express its new activity in color and song; other 

 curious changes sometimes occur, as, for instance, 

 where in certain swallow-like birds the saliva-ceils 

 enormously develop and there is exuded a sticky 

 substance which is made into nests for the young, 

 reminding us of the .strange glue by which the 

 lobster holds her treasures to herself 



These nests, alas, are sweet to the palate of their 

 human neighbor the Chinaman, and many a poor 

 bird's labor ends in a too costly soup for his orien- 

 tal highness. 



Doves and some other birds during the breeding 

 season produce a substance in the crop which 

 softens the food and turns it to a thick, milky 

 paste ; this is regurgitated and fed to the young. 



One old parrot, who was destined to drag out a 

 miserable existence in the zoological garden of a 

 Northern city, relieved his overcharged parental 

 feelings by achieving this result and feeding a 

 similar food to his companions in bondage ! 



The bird loses but a comparatively small amount 

 of reproductive material; it cares for its offspring 

 both before and after their development, necessitat- 

 ing but comparatively little waste of material, and 

 we find it less exhausted by the function of repro- 

 duction than are many of the fishes. 



In it the poucr of life is not immediately lost; 



