BRITISH WAEBLERS 



by insects, one of them, with a billful of food, went to the 

 nest within a few feet of me. Upon my taking up the same 

 position at daylight, the birds, losing a great deal of their 

 fear, continued with the care of their young. In going to 

 or leaving their nest they always ran, and so much do they 

 resemble mice that I was once completely taken in, believing 

 that what I saw was in reality a mouse. One of the parent 

 birds once raised its wings in a threatening attitude, but this 

 was the only occasion on which they showed any sign of 

 objection to my presence. A note was frequently uttered by 

 both sexes, but it seemed to me to be only a call-note to the 

 young, probably to keep them quiet : the male sang at 

 intervals very quietly, and the young, when being fed, uttered 

 tiny squeaks. 



When feeding the young they bring billfuls of insects, or 

 to be more accurate, lumps of squashed insects, and by 

 examining these lumps it is possible to find out what their 

 food consists of. Wait until one approaches you on the way 

 to the nest, then make a sudden movement or a step forward, 

 and the food will in most cases be dropped. Their dexterity 

 in collecting the insects is marvellous ; even when their bill 

 appears to be full they still continue darting at an aphis 

 here and a gnat there, adding them to the lump, yet never 

 dropping any of that already gathered, so quick are their 

 movements. 



The young leave the nest when only a few days old, and 

 until able to fly are most difficult to find, concealed as they 

 are in the dense undergrowth ; but in the study of Nature 

 it may with considerable truth be said that " all things come 

 to him who waits." Having ascertained the position of a 

 nest from which the young have only lately gone, go there 

 soon after sunrise and get well hidden. You will hear the 

 hum of insects commencing and gaining in strength, as in 

 response to the intensifying rays of the sun each one begins 

 his daily toil; you will hear an insect with a very small 

 far-away squeak, which for a time will puzzle you, but since 



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