BREEDING. 
333 
herself bleeding on her eggs and there expire; Ravens 
and Crows will still continue to feed and brood their 
young with the death wound in their breast. Very 
intelligent birds, however, seem perfectly aware that 
against man the boldest defence is useless; and, when 
molested by him, they adopt very curious means to 
provide their young with food. This has been observed 
in the Hobby, Kite, and Carrion Crow, who will drop the 
food from a height into the nest beneath. 
After the nest is abandoned by the brood a new 
duty commences, namely, that of schooling. The 
newly-fledged citizen of the world must now learn his 
trade, be taught how to move and work; and this 
instruction, as is natural, is imparted by the parent 
birds. 
As soon as the young are able to fly they are no longer 
allowed to remain in the nest. In the meanwhile they 
have learnt the language of their parents, and are able to 
understand the different calls. The old birds now start 
them on their first flight: as the mother, by coaxing, 
teaches the baby-child to toddle towards her, increasing 
the distance every time, so do the old birds seek to make 
their young extend their flight; food held before them 
first incites and encourages the timid little things to fly. 
The young Hawk soon learns to wing its way to the nearest 
branch; the young Swallow to the nearest roof. The 
old bird no longer perches alongside the young bird to 
feed it, but swoops around it, inviting it to take food 
while on the wing. For the first few evenings the family 
return to the nest for the night; this practice is, however, 
abandoned, as soon as the parent birds consider the 
youngsters fully able to share every hardship with them. 
The next step is to teach their offspring how to obtain food 
2 Y 
