y^6 XATURE STUDY AND LIFE 



expect them to, — twelve days out of the egg and part of 

 one out of the nest ? 



It is a fascinating study to discover how the parent 

 birds tide their nestlings over this most difficult period of 

 their lives. Ask the pupils to watch a family of birds as 

 the young leave the nest and to describe what they see. 

 Olive Thorne Miller writes of seeing one parent bird 

 call her voung one into a berrj' bush, and while the 

 youngster clamored for food and held its mouth wide 

 open, she quieth' helped herself, as much as to sav : 

 '• This is the w.^\" we do it. See ? " But the young one 

 could not " see ' ' ; for the only thing it had ever done or 

 knew how to do was to hold its mouth open and flutter 

 its wings and beg ; and it must have thought the mother 

 cruel when she slipped awav. leaving it alone to studv the 

 lesson. One of the most interesting lessons I ever saw 

 was given bv my big cock robin to his class of four young 

 ones. The task for that morning was evidentl}' to learn 

 how to catch and eat earthworms. It was a drizzling 

 morning in June. All the voungsters were fullv fledged, 

 and each appeared about as large as the dadd3\ Thev all 

 hopped along in a group, the parent a little in the lead. 

 Soon he pounced upon a large worm, and while he tugged 

 it out of its burrow, what did the voung ones do but sit 

 back, hold their mouths open, flutter their wings, and beg ? 

 He threw the worm, squirming, among them. Xot one 

 attempted to touch it. He picked it up again and, whack- 

 ing it on the ground, broke it into bits. Xot one of his 

 class offered to help. The}', every one, simpl}- held their 

 mouths open and begged. He tossed the squirmino- bits 

 on the ground before them. Xot one caught the idea. 



