I have seen a bluebird just out of the nest, taught to follow his
father in this way. He stood on a small tree, crying for something to
eat, when his father came in sight with a beakful of food. He did not
feed him, but flew past him, so close that he almost touched him, and
alighted on the next tree, a little beyond him.
[Illustration: BLUEBIRD]
The little bluebird saw the food, and at once flew after it, perched
beside his father, and was fed. Then the old bird left him, and in a few
minutes he felt hungry, and began to call again.
I kept close watch, and soon the father came and did the same thing
over. He flew past the young one with an insect in plain sight in his
beak, and perched on another tree still farther along in the way he
wanted the little one to go.
The hungry baby followed, and was fed as before. In this way he was led
to a big tree the other side of the yard, where the rest of the family
were, and where they all spent the night.
An old robin wanted to teach her young one to bathe. She brought him to
a dish of water kept for their use by some people who were fond of
birds. The little one stood on the edge and watched his mother go in,
and splash and scatter the water. He fluttered his wings, and was
eager to try it for himself, but seemed afraid to plunge in.
At last the mother flew away and left him standing there, and in a
moment came back with a worm in her mouth. The young robin was hungry,
as young birds always are, and when he saw the worm, he began to flutter
his wings, and cry for it.
But the mother jumped into the middle of the water dish, and stood
there, holding the worm in his sight. The youngster wanted the worm so
much that he seemed to forget his fear of the water, and hopped right in
beside her. She fed him, and then began to splash about, and he liked it
so well that he stayed and took a good bath.
Birds, as these stories show, teach their little ones by coaxing, and
not by driving them.
An Englishman, Mr. Lloyd Morgan, once had some ducks and chickens
hatched away from their mother, to see how much their parents had to
teach them.
He found that these little orphans had to be taught to pick up their
food, and to know what is good to eat. He had to show the young ducks
how to dive, and teach all of them that water is good to drink.
To see if chickens had to be taught the hen language, he put them out
by their mother when they were a few days old.
The hen was going about with her brood, all brothers and sisters of Mr.
Morgan's chicks, and she was quite ready to adopt the new ones. She
clucked and called to them with all her might, but they did not come.
They acted as if they did not hear her. When the others ran and crept
under her wings to be brooded, the strangers looked on, but did not
think of going too.
They did not understand the calls or the ways of their own mother. They
had not been taught.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account