all of the nest, and fluttered
them with much spirit. He had spent almost a fortnight in the cradle,
and was beginning to think he had been a baby long enough.

From the first I had kept in mind the question whether the feeding of
the young by regurgitation, as described briefly by Audubon, and more in
detail by Mr. William Brewster,[9] would be continued after the
nestlings were fully grown. On the 14th I wrote in my journal: "The
method of feeding remains unchanged, and, as it seems, is likely to
remain so to the end. It must save the mother much labor in going and
coming, and perhaps renders the cooperation of the male parent
unnecessary." This prediction was fulfilled, but with a qualification to
be hereafter specified.

[9] _The Auk_, vol. vii. p. 206.

Every morning, now, I went to the apple-tree uncertain whether the nest
would not be found empty. According to Audubon, Nuttall, Mr. Burroughs,
and Mrs. Treat, young humming-birds stay in the nest only seven days.
Mr. Brewster, in his notes already cited, says that the birds on which
his observations were made--in the garden of Mr. E. S. Hoar, in
Concord--were hatched on the 4th of July,[10] and forsook the nest on
the 18th. My birds were already fifteen days old, at least, and, unless
they were to prove uncommonly backward specimens, ought to be on the
wing forthwith. Nevertheless they were in no haste. Day after day
passed. The youngsters looked more and more like old birds, and the
mother grew constantly more and more nervous.

[10] But Mr. Hoar, from whom Mr. Brewster had his dates, informs me that
the time of hatching was not certainly known; and from Mr. Brewster's
statement about the size of the nestlings, I cannot doubt that they had
been out of the shell some days longer than Mr. Hoar then supposed.

On the 18th I found her in a state of unprecedented excitement,
squeaking almost incessantly. At first I attributed this to concern at
my presence, but after a while it transpired that a young oriole--a
blundering, tailless fellow--was the cause of the disturbance. By some
accident he had dropped into the leafy treetop, as guiltless of any evil
design as one of her own nestlings. How she did buzz about him! In and
out among the branches she went, now on this side of him, now on that,
and now just over his back; all the time squeaking fiercely, and
carrying her tail spread to its utmost. The scene lasted for some
minutes. Through it all the two young birds