FEATHERED PHILOSOPHERS IOJ 



timber, sound and firm, but with a 

 rough cuticle which absorbed more 

 quickly and to which the clay stuck 

 firmly. Here they again essayed, and 

 in two days they had really completed 

 their building. 



The brood was ready to fly one warm 

 day in the early part of August, or the 

 parents at least thought so, but the nest- 

 lings were perfectly content where they 

 were; the table was good and the view 

 unexceptional. Coaxing did not avail, 

 so next day the parents relentlessly 

 pushed them out on the hay, and there 

 they stayed for two days more. But 

 they either could not or would not fly, 

 and seemed to have cramps in their 

 claws and weak ankles (tarsi is the 

 more accurate term). The third day 

 the parents refused to come further 

 in than the window-sill, where they 

 uttered a lisping chirp, fluttered their 



