The First Act of a Young Thrush

Abstract

SINCE observations of the first acts of wild birds immediately after hatching are very difficult, the following may be worth recording. Last week I went to look at a thrush's nest which I had found a fortnight before, with four eggs in it. Two eggs were hatched and two were not. As I was watching the young birds, one of the two remaining eggs cracked right across, and I saw the bird wriggle out and toss the two halves of the shell out of the nest by a convulsive movement of its back; but the curious thing was that, before the bird was properly free from the shell, it opened its beak—as if for food. I dug up a worm near by and offered it to the bird, which swallowed it eagerly. I purposely dug for the worm in a place from which I could see the nest, and I feel sure that the parent bird did not come and feed the nestling meanwhile. A few minutes later the other egg hatched, and the bird behaved just as in the former case, opening its beak before it was out of the shell.