File:Bird lore (1918) (14568589879).jpg

Identifier: birdlore201918nati (find matches)
Title: Bird lore
Year: 1899 (1890s)
Authors: National Committee of the Audubon Societies of America National Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals National Audubon Society
Subjects: Birds Birds Ornithology
Publisher: New York City : Macmillan Co.
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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ng part in building the nestsand bringing up the young birds. Sometimes two females gave their attentionto one apartment, and it seemed probable that they were using a single nest,as is common with some of the domestic fowls. At first, the diet of the fledglings is made up of the common catch that is I2i Bird - Lore easily swallowed and quickly digested. Later, when the young are well grown,it seems that dragon-flies are much sought, and these are crammed down thethroats of the voracious youngsters—wings, legs, and all, without trimming,pruning, or macerating of any kind. Catch on the wing and feed as caught—this seems to be the Martins way of providing for their young. While highly specialized along certain lines, as in their manner of seining theair for gnats and other minute flyers, the Martins are not all-round experts byany means. They are very solicitous for the safety of their young, but they arenot apt at meeting some unusual conditions, and the fledgling that falls to the
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SOME TOWN MARTIN HOMESPhotographed by Edward S. Daniels ground is usually lost. And that first plunge, that trying of wings without eventhe experience that comes of instinct, with even chance of reaching a landing ordashing against a wall—this is the supreme test in which a Martin lives or dies.They are real artists in some respects, but are utterly lacking in the skillthat enables some of the ground-birds to pound a hard beetle into a lusciousmorsel. They know nothing of the engineering tactics shown by the HouseWren when she takes a stiff 6-inch twig through a hole the size of a quarter.The straw that offers slight resistance is allowed to fall to the ground, and theyseem to waste a good deal of time in building very ordinary nests. The youngbirds usually come out in July, and, if the first flight is successful, soon learn tQ Some Notes on Martin Colonies 129 disport themselves with remarkable ease and grace. They usually leave forother climes about September i, but they sometimes

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