JUNE 119 



Willow Wrens, which yesterday were peering out of 

 their domed nest on the ground amongst the springing 

 bracken, are now being fed by the old birds in the 

 hedge, which, with its feet deep in foxgloves and 

 campion, already shows the pink blush of a rose here 

 and there. The young birds, more yellow in colour 

 than their parents, keep up a low plaintive chirp, 

 perhaps to hold the party together. How marvel- 

 lously rapid is the growth and development of nest- 

 lings such as these, in accordance with the amount 

 of food, vast in proportion to their size, which they 

 consume. Young blackcaps or garden-warblers, 

 if alarmed, will scramble out of the nest long before 

 they are able to fly. In all these small birds the feet 

 and claws show a precociously strong development. 

 They are thus able to perch at an early age, and to 

 cling to their perches tenaciously, remaining quiescent 

 for a time, and then, as a rule, giving a sudden and 

 loud call for food. However well hidden by the 

 leaves or undergrowth, their parents find them easily 

 by means of this call. 



At no other time of year is one so puzzled by the 

 multiplicity of unfamiliar bird-notes. Many of these 

 are the calls of young birds to their parents, but it 

 has always appeared to the writer as if the old birds 

 used a sort of endearing " baby talk," especially 

 when encouraging their young to leave the nest or 

 to attempt a first flight. Certain it is that one hears 



