28 The Bird 
The appearance of a young kingfisher or heron may be 
completely changed within a few hours time, so quickly 
and simultaneously does the first suit of feathers unroll. 
The condition of young birds when hatched varies 
greatly in birds of different groups. Nestlings are, in 
many ways, like human babies, and there are as many 
differences in the one class as there are in the other, 
Fie. 16.—Growth of an Ostrich feather from sheath to plume. 1/5 natural size. 
between those from different countries, only Nature does 
for the little birds what parents do for the babies. 
We see American babies wrapped in furs and blankets, 
wheeled in carriages, and rocked to sleep; while a tiny 
savage is strapped tightly to its mother’s back, and as 
soon as possible allowed to run where it pleases, find its 
own toys and develop its little muscles, gaining a degree 
of health and strength which many a civilized child would 
envy. So with birds, the highest—such as crows and 
thrushes—are hatched almost naked and must be warmed 
