. Bits of bird life . rily, Cheer up ! cheer up ! She had been setting twelve days when I thought, fromMr. Redbreasts frequent visits to the garden for worms, thathis family had increased. Of this I was not sure until nextday, when he came to the nest with a worm in his mate, instead of taking it from him, slowly rose andlowered her bill into the nest as if to whisper some secret tolittle ones there. Then two tiny beaks rose to view, and opened to receivethe morsel. Next instant Mr. Redbreast was off for anotherworm, and the little mother was lovingly covering her A FAMILY HISTORY. 23
. Bits of bird life . rily, Cheer up ! cheer up ! She had been setting twelve days when I thought, fromMr. Redbreasts frequent visits to the garden for worms, thathis family had increased. Of this I was not sure until nextday, when he came to the nest with a worm in his mate, instead of taking it from him, slowly rose andlowered her bill into the nest as if to whisper some secret tolittle ones there. Then two tiny beaks rose to view, and opened to receivethe morsel. Next instant Mr. Redbreast was off for anotherworm, and the little mother was lovingly covering her A FAMILY HISTORY. 23 precious brood. They were three days old when I awokeone morning at four oclock, and watched them as they atetheir morning meal. During the next two hours food wasbrought to the nestfourteen times, andeach time was eatenas greedily as if thelittle brood were onthe verge of starva-tion. So rapidly had theyoung birds grownby this time that fourheads could be seenabove the edge of thenest when the parentswere away. They. were not prettyheads in that stageof development, forthey were entirelybare except for agray fuzz, and theprominent features were an immense mouth and two bulging lumps on the lumps opened as eyes three days later. The babies were now six days old and looked more likebirds, though still far from being objects of beauty. Theyhad grown so large as nearly to fill the nest, and at the Nest and Tenants. 24 A FAMILY HISTORY. slightest noise would lift up their heads high, and open theirmouths wide. So long and slender were their necks, theirheads so wide and fiat, their beaks so long and opened to analmost incredible width, that there was something uncannyabout them as they stretched up and uttered a queer littlewhine when either parent brought food. I dont know where Mr. Redbreast spent his nights, but Ido know that at half past three oclock on the morning whenthe young birds were a week old, he flew up to his front doorand fondly saluted his family. After
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1895
