Evening star., 1901-07-30
HOW BABY BIRDS ARE FED
QUEER WAYS INssWHICH FLEDG-
LINGs TAKE. APIRIsHMENT.
Industry Of FeatheEef Mothers In Car
Ing for andHScnooling
Their Y4Yns.

From the Denver Post. yfs
II you get up veryEery early in the
morning-Iong beforee Meakfast-so very
early, indeed, that HE SUN has not vet
risen. you Will heaT thes birds You hear
them through the dajyss " course but they
do not sing nearly so much nor SO sweetly
after the sun has risen
And II you are very gentle and quiet,
and know how to go where the birds are
yon may see the little birds going to school
or having their breakfasts. For birds have
to go to school just as boys and girls do,
only they learn different things.
They have breakfast shortly after sun
rise. And 1t Is very Interesting to see the
different ways and the different things
they eat
II you watch a nestfyl of young robins
queer. blinky, bald things with great thick
yellow folds Of skin around the edges Of
their wide mouths-you will find that they
eat worms. There Is little chuckling cali,
the air and comes softly down on the edge
Of the nest she built earlier in the spring.
Five wide mouths stretch up blindiy.
Two only get anything: the mother robin
snips her worm and pokes the halves into
the red throats so hard one would think 1t
might hurt Then away she goes with
reassuring "twftr' after q careful look
round to see that no boys, cats or snakes
before she can return. again.
Now half worm Is no more than a
spoonful OF porridge In young robins
breakfast, and so mamma has to make
trip after trip to feed her brood.
The Pigeons Breakfast.
But a pigeons breakfast custom Is even
more curious, for the birdiets get their
meals out Of mammals throat. The fuzzy
heads go poking into her stretched mouth
-one would think the down must tickle
her-and get the grain that has already
been chewed by the sharp pebbles in the
mother birds crop.
After breakfast school time comes for
| birds. The two things they never have to
learn are the two things over which little
girls have most OF their troubles-they
don't have to be told to wash their faces
and comb their hair. because they know by
instinct that when this Is done they will
be more comfortable. And they are not
taught to brush their teeth. because they
haven't any.
But they have to learn to fly, to follow,
to talk, to hunt good food. and not to eat
what Is bad for their little tummfes. and
follow the seasons, II they are OF migra-
young birds needed no training, but came
from the egg with heads as wise as their
daddies had
But when people began to get acquainted
more with the birds they found this was
not 80. There are certain birds who are
very wise. Of course. You may have seen
the bird called the fy7catcher-Lay's fy-
catcher. It Is a bird common In Colorado.
whole nest full Of little fy-catchers has
| been known to stretch. wings for the first
time and fly away @9gsher the width OF
the street-to tall cottonwood tree. Ana
this was without any lesson or assistance
from the mother birds The instinct OF the
| little creatures was all that guided them.
And weren't they proudi
Once man tried 10 he mother bird.
by heat and to find out' Whether the young
bird would know asmueh as other birds
| who had mothers. And he found that they
really did know great deal. but some
things they never did learn. They were not
afraid OF people as the other birds are. and
they could not understand the calls OF
| their own mother. y i
Learning torFly.
Sometimes a mother bird. when she
| thinks 1t time for her babies to fly. will
| drive them away from their homes or push
them of the nest out INTO the world. But
more often the little folk fall, from the nest
home grows too crowded and one little one
! Is pushed out. Then the mothers and
fathers show great anxiety for the little
ones and they do all they can to help
how to use their wings Mother birds love
their children just as any mother loves her
child.
One time happy little family OF robins
| where a little girl watched them day after
| day. The bird children grew very fast.
just as all children do., and as there were
I've Of them they soon quite filled the nest.
| One day an unusually heavy hailstorm
came up, just as they sometimes do In the
spring. The little girl worried a~great deal
about those tiny birds, for she was very
fond Of them and was afraid they would be
dow to see II they were safe In the nest.
And there was the dear mother robin how
ering over them with her wings stretched
| out just as far as she could reach. trying
| to cover all her babies and protect them
from the storm.
The hall came down hard and pelted her
on the head and wings. but she shook 1t on
and never stirred from her little home un-
til the storm was over. I. Then she futtered
to the ground. all bruised and quite ex-
hausted. E-t
Somewhat Like Children.
Young birds grow very fast and eat
great deal Of food just as you young chill
| dren do. 1t keeps the mother and father
birds busy all the time to find enough to
fill the hungry little mouths.
Did you ever see bird hunting worms
for her babies? It is really quite amusing.
Where the earth Is soft and damp the
birds know it is good place for worms.
and they dig with their beakS until they
find tempting fat worm.
The other day l watched robin collect
ing meal for her young ones. who were
safe at home. She dug along the edge OF
a lawn until she found worm she thought
her babies would like. Then she took It in
her mouth and hoped further to another
spot that looked nice and wormy. Here
she put down her one prize and dug In the
cool earth for second. She did this over
and over again until she had six lovely big
worms.
Then. with her mouth quite full Of the
dangling morseIs. she flew away to feed
her hungry brides.
A blackbird does a very queer thing
sometimes. She will lay her pretty little
eggs in some other birds nest and will
leave them for the other mother to hatch
with her own. And the other bird will
care for the little black orphans just as
though they were her own children.
Some OF the birds that you see about now
are the mountain bluebird. the house finch.
the. western. meadow lark. the western
robin, the western house wren. the catbird.
| the lark bunting. redwing blackbird. Bull
locks oriole. the yelfpw sWarbler. the desert
horned lark. red-headsd woodpecker, mock
ing bird and the weStFgs sparrow.
The Hideo4s esiiboards.
From the Chicago Jouralf. bs.'