apparently corresponding twitching of the tail and hinder 
parts of the body and a slighter movement of the wings. 
As already stated, the contact of .ills lasted 
from one minute to a minute and a quarter. At its ter¬ 
mination, the oameat a mild suddenly resume an erect.position 
a: id lo k keenly around, at the same time opening and 
shutting his bill, running out his tongue, and working the 
upper portion, of the throat slightly. This action puzzled 
me at first. It looked as if the bird were tasting and 
afterw ode swallowing something which it had obtained from 
the mouth of the young. After w- tchlng it closely many 
tines 1 finally cane to the co iclasion. thou it was for the 
purpose of regaining snail particles of food which, failing 
to 1 ;dge in the throat of the young, were drawn out, adhering 
to the parent 1 ® bill. On one ooc-sion 1 distinctly saw the 
old bird while thus tasting drop or rub off something from 
the tip of the bill and' then, bending, forward, pick it up 
from the top of the stump and swallow it. The object thus 
dropped and recovered lo ked like a large block ant. 
If interrupted during this process of pumping 
food down the throat of its offspring, as the parent occas¬ 
ionally was by some notion or noise which I made, the old 
bird would often feed the same youngster twice or even thrice 
in succession, but this never happened when, the first period 
of contact v/c*. s of normal length. 
