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OCP Instructors Guide for Oracle DBA
Certification
A Study Guide to Advanced Oracle Certified Professional
Database Administration Techniques

Christopher Foot
ii
This book is dedicated to my late father, Arthur, who like many others,
came to this country with just a dream and a willingness to work hard. I
wish you were here to see me now.

This book is also dedicated to my wife Sandy. You have been faced with
many challenges that others will hopefully never endure. You have
met each one with determination and good humor. Always remember that
you are the strongest person I know.

--Chris

iii
OCP Instructors Guide for Oracle DBA
Certification
A Study Guide to Advanced Oracle Certified Professional
Database Administration Techniques
By Christopher Foot
Copyright © 2003 by BMC Software and DBAzine. Used with permission.

Printed in the United States of America.

Published in Kittrell, North Carolina, USA

Oracle In-Focus Series: Book #14

Series Editor: Don Burleson

Production Manager: Robert Strickland

Production Editor: Teri Wade

Cover Design: Bryan Hoff

Printing History:

August 2003 for First Edition

Oracle, Oracle7, Oracle8, Oracle8i and Oracle9i are trademarks of Oracle Corporation.

Many of the designations used by computer vendors to distinguish their products are
claimed as Trademarks. All names known to Rampant TechPress to be trademark names
appear in this text as initial caps.

The information provided by the authors of this work is believed to be accurate and
reliable, but because of the possibility of human error by our authors and staff, BMC
Software, DBAZine and Rampant TechPress cannot guarantee the accuracy or
completeness of any information included in this work and is not responsible for any
errors, omissions or inaccurate results obtained from the use of information or scripts in
this work.

Links to external sites are subject to change; DBAZine.com, BMC Software and
Rampant TechPress do not control or endorse the content of these external web sites,
and are not responsible for their content.

ISBN: 0-9740716-1-7

iv
Table of Contents
Using the Online Code Depot......................................................xiv
Conventions Used in this Book.....................................................xv
Acknowledgements .......................................................................xvii
Foreword .......................................................................................xviii
Chapter 1 - Getting Started .................................................... 1
Why Become an Oracle Database Administrator?.......................1
Oracle Database Administration Responsibilities ........................3
Oracle Classroom Education ...........................................................8
Oracle9i Curriculum Changes........................................................10
Oracle9i Oracle Certifications .......................................................11
Oracle Certified Database Associate (OCA) ...................................12
Oracle Certified Database Professional (OCP).................................13
Oracle Certified Master Database Administrator (OCM) ...............14
Oracle9i DBA OCP Upgrade Path...............................................14
Other Recommend Classes ............................................................16
Preparing for the Oracle Certified Professional Exams ............17
Taking the Certification Exams.....................................................18
Finding Information Quickly – The Key to Success .................19
Reference Manuals...........................................................................20
Oracle Internal Resources.................................................................21
External Resources..........................................................................22
Book Recommendations ...................................................................23
Conclusion ........................................................................................25
Chapter 2 - Oracle Database Architectures ......................... 27
Oracle Database Architectures ......................................................27
Oracle on Microsoft Windows Platforms....................................28
Oracle on LINUX Platforms.........................................................30
Oracle on Unix Platforms ..............................................................32
Database Architecture Comparison Worksheet .........................34
Venturing into the Great Unknown – New Database
Architectures.....................................................................................36
Table of Contents v
 Conclusion ........................................................................................36
Chapter 3 - Review Meetings ............................................... 38
Oracle Database Design Review Meetings ..................................38
Initial Overview of Proposed System...........................................40
Logical Data Model Review ...........................................................41
Designing for Performance............................................................42
Setting up a Successful Test System in Oracle............................44
Monitoring Performance During Testing....................................45
Performance Design Reviews ........................................................46
Preparation for Production Turnover ..........................................48
Post Production Turnover .............................................................49
Oracle Database Design Review Meetings – Conclusion .........50
Conclusion ........................................................................................50
Chapter 4 - Oracle Database Administration....................... 52
Oracle Software Installation...........................................................52
Migrating to Newer Oracle Releases ............................................53
UNIX and LINUX Semaphores and Shared Memory ..............56
Semaphores......................................................................................56
Shared Memory ...............................................................................59
Relinking Oracle8i and Oracle9i Products...................................60
Windows Services ............................................................................61
Oracle Instance Administration ....................................................62
Oracle9i Persistent Initialization Parameter Files.......................63
Remote Startup/Shutdown ............................................................66
Multiple Buffer Pools......................................................................68
Specifying Default, Keep and Recycle Bufferpools in Oracle8
and Oracle8i......................................................................................69
Specifying Default, Keep and Recycle Bufferpools in Oracle9i70
Large Pool.........................................................................................70
Java Pool ...........................................................................................71
Redo log Buffer Performance........................................................71
Buffer Performance is critical to Good Oracle Performance...72
DBWR_IO_SLAVES vs DB_WRITER_PROCESSES ..........73

vi OCP Instructors Guide

 Conclusion ........................................................................................75
Chapter 5 - Oracle Database Objects .................................. 76
What Database Are You Working In? .........................................76
Choosing a Database Block Size ...................................................77
Copying Databases Between Servers............................................79
Oracle Tablespaces ..........................................................................82
Temporary Tablespaces ....................................................................82
Create Tablespace Temporary vs. Create Temporary Tablespace .......84
Partitioning .......................................................................................85
Oracle 8 - Range Partitioning ........................................................87
Index Partitioning ............................................................................88
Equi-Partitioned Objects................................................................89
Local Indexes....................................................................................89
Global Indexes .................................................................................90
Oracle8i – Hash and Range/Hash Composite Partitioning .....90
Hash Partitioning............................................................................90
Combining Range and Hash Partitioning – Range/Hash Composite
Partitioning .....................................................................................91
Oracle9i – List and Range/List Composite Partitioning...........91
List Partitioning..............................................................................91
Range/List Composite Partitioning .................................................92
Which Partitioning Technique Do I Choose?.............................93
Oracle9i Tablespace Changes ........................................................95
Locally Managed System Tablespaces ........................................100
Rollback Segments.........................................................................101
When is the System Rollback Segment Used?.................................102
Rollback Segments and Transaction Processing Workloads ............102
Batch and On-line Processing .....................................................103
Rollback Segments and Users – Who’s Using What? ..............104
Oracle9i - Database Managed Undo Segments.........................105
Redo Logs .......................................................................................107
Checkpoint Not Complete...........................................................108
Resizing Redo Logs .......................................................................110

Table of Contents vii

 Oracle Tables and Indexes ...........................................................112
Space Utilization for Parallel Table Creates...............................112
Index-only Tables ..........................................................................112
Single Table Hash Clusters...........................................................114
Oracle9i External Tables ..............................................................116
ALTER TABLE MOVE Statement...........................................119
ALTER COLUMN RENAME.............................................120
On-Line Table Reorganizations ..................................................120
PCTFREE and PCTUSED..........................................................124
Clustering Data in Tables .............................................................124
Merging Tables to Increase Query Performance......................124
How Many Indexes Can I Build? ................................................125
Parameters that Impact Index Usage..........................................127
Index-Only Access ........................................................................128
Index Rebuilds ...............................................................................130
Index Coalesce vs Index Rebuild ................................................130
Function-Based Indexes ...............................................................133
Bitmap Indexes ..............................................................................134
Optimizer and Bitmap Indexes ...................................................135
Concurrency and Bitmap Indexes...............................................135
When to Use Bitmap Indexes......................................................136
Bitmap vs B-Tree...........................................................................137
Indexing Hints Tips and Tricks...................................................138
Index Monitoring...........................................................................139
Conclusion ......................................................................................141
Chapter 6 - Oracle Backup and Recovery...........................143
It’s the Little Things That Bite You............................................143
Keep Your Skills Sharp.................................................................143
RELAX and Plan Your Attack...................................................144
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Others ...................................................144
Instance Recovery and the Oracle Synchronization Process..145
Uncommitted Data on the Data Files............................................146
Committed Data Not On the Data Files.......................................147

viii OCP Instructors Guide

 The Synchronization Process ..........................................................147
Roll Forward Phase.......................................................................147
Roll Backward Phase ....................................................................148
Exports and Recovery...................................................................148
V$RECOVERFILE ......................................................................148
Watch the NOLOGGING Option............................................149
Striped File Systems.......................................................................149
Data Files and Redo Logs ............................................................149
Redo Log and Control File Multiplexing ...................................150
OCOPY for Windows ..................................................................150
Hot Backup Scripts for Windows ...............................................150
Hot Backup Scripts for UNIX ....................................................151
Oracle9i – Lazy Checkpointer .....................................................154
Recovery Manager .........................................................................156
Recovery Catalog............................................................................157
Recovery Manager Backup Types ...................................................158
Backup Sets ...........................................................................158
Image Copies.........................................................................159
Parallel Backup and Recovery........................................................159
Multiplexed Backup Sets...............................................................159
Backup/Recovery Reports..............................................................160
Database Recovery .........................................................................160
RMAN Examples .......................................................................160
db_verify ............................................................................................162
Conclusion ......................................................................................162
Chapter 7 - Tuning and Performance .................................165
Be careful with the ANALYZE command ...............................165
Finding Problem Queries .............................................................166
Optimizer Plan Stability................................................................167
Pinning Objects in the Shared Pool............................................169
PCTFREE and PCTUSED..........................................................170
Caching Tables ...............................................................................170
Clustering Data in Tables .............................................................170

Table of Contents ix
 Merging Tables to Increase Query Performance......................171
Hints ................................................................................................171
Parallel Hints ..................................................................................172
Performance Testing .....................................................................172
Parallel Query .................................................................................173
Tuning Oracle on Windows.........................................................173
Tuning Pack....................................................................................173
Direct Load Inserts........................................................................174
Parallel DML Processing ..............................................................175
Materialized Views.........................................................................177
Database Resource Management ................................................178
STATSPACK .................................................................................179
V$ TABLES vs. Oracle BSTAT/ESTAT and STATSPACK181
Segment-Level Performance Statistics Collection ....................181
Performance Tuning Intelligent Advisories ..............................183
Optimizer Dynamic Sampling .....................................................184
Data Segment Compression.........................................................186
Using Explain Pan to Determine Access Paths ........................187
Explain Plan Output .....................................................................190
SQL*PLUS AUTOTRACE.........................................................191
High Water Mark and Table Scans .............................................192
Allocating too Much Memory to the Shared Pool and Data
Buffers .............................................................................................193
Conclusion ......................................................................................194
Chapter 8 - Miscellaneous Oracle Information ..................196
The Foot Rule of Thumb.............................................................196
Monitor By Day So You Don’t Get Called at Night ...............197
Monitoring Space Utilization and Performance Statistics
Historically ......................................................................................199
Latches and Enqueues ..................................................................201
Deadlock Detection ......................................................................202
Unindexed Foreign Keys and Locking Problems.....................203
Using PUPBLD .............................................................................206

x OCP Instructors Guide

 Copying databases between servers ............................................207
Oracle9i - Resumable Space Allocation .....................................207
Oracle9i – Flashback Query.........................................................209
Full Database Exports ..................................................................213
Large Table Imports......................................................................214
Compressing Export Output Files in UNIX ............................214
Terminating Oracle Processes (Threads) in Windows
Systems ............................................................................................214
Truncating vs Deleting..................................................................215
Copy Command in SQL*PLUS ..................................................215
Displaying Time in Milliseconds .................................................215
!, $ and Host Command Differences..........................................216
Learn Command Line BEFORE Using "Sissy GUI Tools" Like
Oracle Enterprise Manager ..........................................................216
Don’t Write Scripts........................................................................216
Don’t’ Write Iterative SQL Statements – Generate SQL with
SQL..................................................................................................216
Input Truncated to 9 Characters .................................................217
Conclusion ......................................................................................217
Chapter 9 - Evaluating Third-Party Products.................... 220
Initial Analysis ................................................................................220
Determine Impact to the Information Technology Support
Infrastructure..................................................................................221
Analysis Evaluation .......................................................................222
Obtain Business Unit and IT Management Commitment ......223
Create Evaluation Team ...............................................................224
Locate Potential Vendors .............................................................225
Initial Elimination..........................................................................225
Vendor Evaluation ........................................................................227
Communicate Results ...................................................................228
Conclusion ......................................................................................229
Chapter 10 - Ease of Administration...................................231
Good Documentation is Essential..............................................231
Table of Contents xi
 Follow OFA Naming Conventions ............................................235
Proceduralize Administrative Support for the Application
Development Process ...................................................................236
Proceduralize the Change Request Process...............................236
Create and Standardize Monitoring and Administration
Scripts ..............................................................................................239
Repeatable Processes.....................................................................239
Create Service Level Agreements................................................240
DBA Report Cards and the 360-Degree Review Process .......240
Corrective Action Reports ...........................................................241
Conclusion ......................................................................................241
Chapter 11 - Oracle Database Security............................... 243
Protecting Data Requires More than just Protecting the
Production Database.....................................................................243
Identifying Granted Privileges .....................................................244
Accounts Created During Database Creation...........................246
Wrapping PL/SQL Programs......................................................248
Using OPS$ Accounts ..................................................................249
Using Security Profiles ..................................................................250
SYS and SYSTEM Passwords .....................................................251
GRANT ANY OBJECT Privilege..............................................252
Administrative User Auditing ......................................................253
Moving the AUD$ Table..............................................................254
Conclusion ......................................................................................255
Chapter 12 - Certification Test Preparation ....................... 257
Introduction....................................................................................257
Oracle Certified Associate Tests .................................................258
Exam 1Z0-007 – Introduction to Oracle9i SQL .........................258
Exam 1Z0-031 – Oracle Database Fundamentals I....................260
Oracle Certified Professional Tests ............................................267
Exam 1Z0-032 – Oracle Database Fundamentals II ..................267
Exam 1Z0-033 – Oracle Database Performance Tuning..............275
Conclusion ......................................................................................280

xii OCP Instructors Guide

 Book Conclusion ...........................................................................281
Index .................................................................................. 283
About the Author ............................................................... 286

Table of Contents xiii

Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
and pulled and looked over, just as a woman cleans and stretches
delicate lace and embroidery. See how the loose feathers are pulled
out and dropped, like so many useless ravellings or worn threads.
The bird watches the falling plume until it reaches the ground,
canting her head to one side to see what becomes of her tatters,
and then she goes on with her dressing.
Madam Bird manages very well to twist about and reach all of
her clothes except her head-dress. Have you wondered how a bird
can turn its head all around in a way that would cramp your own
neck if you should try it? The neck of a bird is more flexible than
yours; that is, it is furnished with more joints, so that the bird can
turn its head readily and dress itself with ease.
A bird never changes the whole of its dress at once. Little by little
the feathers drop out or are pulled away, so that they are not
missed. If they should all come out in one day or one week, the bird
would be helpless and unable to fly.
If you should attempt to smooth a bird's feathers without
knowing how, you would very likely make her look very ragged.
Naturalists, who know how because they have practised so much,
can smooth and pull the feathers as well as the bird herself. They
can pick up a hurt bird and by a few touches make her look
respectable.
 CHAPTER V.
HOW MADAM BIRD COMBS HER HAIR.
Madam Bird is not able to smooth her head-dress with her bill.
What does she do about it? Why, she uses her foot, which serves
also as her hand.
Birds are either-handed; that is, they can use the left hand or
foot as well as the right. Some people think that a parrot is left-
handed, because she always takes in her left hand the cracker or
sugar which you offer to her. The next time you feed her, stop and
see what you are doing. You are standing in front of the bird and
offering her the cracker in your right hand. She is facing you, and of
course takes the food with her left hand. Everybody gives her things
in the same way, and she naturally uses her left hand, because we
teach her to do so.
But wild birds are either handed. Watch and see how they comb
their hair, first on one side and then on the other, scratching very
fast, as if to get all the tangles out, but never crying, "Oh, don't!"
when it pulls. We call the fine feathers "hair," because they grow on
the bird's head as our hair does on our own.
See how Mrs. Bird lifts her crown and separates the soft feathers,
and fixes her frizzes or bangs, if she wears them. After she has
combed her hair this way long enough, she smoothes it down in
good order with her hair dressing, as you will see later on.
Did you ever notice a bird wash its ears? That is enough to make
you smile, but we assure you it does wash its ears and all around its
mouth after its meals, and between meals as often as it is necessary.
 Watch your tame canary; he is very much like wild birds in habits
of neatness. See him stand on one foot and reach the other foot up
quickly between the long feathers of his wing and dig away at his
ears, just as if his mother had told him to "get ready for school."
We have laughed many a time to see him wash himself, he does
it so deftly and cheerfully, as if it were the greatest fun in the world.
Then, to get the corners of his mouth clean, he wipes them on his
towel. His towel is his perch or any cross-bar in the cage. You may
say he is "sharpening his bill," but he is really wiping his face. He
has probably washed it in his bath a few minutes before.
Some birds wear their hair done up high on their heads like a
"pug,"—the "crest" as we call it, standing out like the twist of the
fashion. Others, such as our mountain quail,[3] prefer something like
a Chinaman's queue or the revolutionary braids. Others still comb
their hair down plain and neat like little Quakers.
[3] In Southern California, Oreortyx pictus plumiferus.

But whichever way a bird dresses its head, it is always becoming

and pretty. We have watched birds dressing themselves, sitting or
standing on the edge of the tub under the hydrant, or at the brook
or puddle, and we have wondered if they were not looking at
themselves in the water, flirting and twisting and turning about just
like real people at a looking-glass.
Most birds wear short dresses or skirts in true walking style,
while a few prefer the trail. But one thing we have noticed: they
never allow the trail to drag in the dust or mud, not even the road-
runner, whose train is sometimes twelve inches long.
 Mountain Quail.
A mocking-bird or a robin will let her train just touch the ground
when she stretches up to look about her; but when she begins to
walk again she lifts it. So you never see the tip of the longest tail
one bit draggled, unless the bird is wounded or sick.
If you watch closely, you will learn to tell a male bird from a
female bird by its dress. To be sure, his coat skirts are cut so much
like the dress of his mate that we sometimes have to imagine a good
deal to see any difference.
But, as a rule, you can tell the male or gentleman bird because
he dresses so much more gayly than his mate, although we do not
think he spends quite so much time as she in fixing and mending his
clothes and in bathing. The lady bird works harder than her mate in
going to market to get lumber and nails for her house or cradle, and
so she soils her clothes more. Then she sits longer in the nest and
works harder in many ways, never once thinking about putting on an
apron.
You must not think too hard of the gentleman birds for letting
their mates do the most of the home work, for you remember that it
is the male who must always be ready for his place in the orchestra
at a moment's notice. He is obliged to make most of the music, and
if he should neglect his duty he would probably lose his place and be
put out of the choir.
A singer bird has no notes spread out before him, but must go
over and over his part, until he knows it by heart with no one to
prompt him.
You need not be surprised because we said a bird must get
lumber and nails for her house or cradle. If she did not have lumber
and nails, she could not do her work. Of course you never hear her
pounding with a hammer, still she uses what may be called nails, as
you shall see by and by.

I should not have to change my dress

Were I a bird in yonder tree,
And say, "Excuse me, if you please,"
When callers come to visit me.
But I would fly upon a bough.
And say, "My dear, come right up
here."
And we would sit and swing and chat
Beneath the sky so blue and clear.
 CHAPTER VI.
WHAT BIRDS CARRY IN THEIR POCKETS.
Some birds wear on their heads plumes, or bright and showy hats.
These they sometimes lift in true bird style. There is the ruby-
crowned kinglet[4] which one sees in the garden trees. When this
little king lifts his hat, he shows what looks like a ruby crown or
jewel on top of his head.
[4] Regulus calendula.

Other birds wear cocked hats, or tall silk hats with waving
plumes. You can imagine almost anything you like in the dress of a
bird, from his hat to his shoes. When a bird who wears a hat is
surprised by another bird, or is angry, or when he wants to "show
off" to his mate while paying his respects to her, he lifts the feathers
on the top of his head; and this is what we call "lifting his hat."
Many of our merry little bird friends, both male and female, wear
bonnets or hoods, which we think are tied closely under the chin.
Others, like the woodpeckers, wear collars of lace. This lace is made
of loose, filmy feathers, as different from the feathers of the breast
or back as embroidery is different from closely woven cloth.
 Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
When a warm day comes, you will see the birds lift their wings
and hold their feathers close, and pant with their bills open. How
tired they look, and the song or twitter which you hear is a weary
one, as if they were saying, "The oldest inhabitant never saw so
warm a day." In a cold snap the dress fluffs out, and the bird looks
much larger than he did on the warm day. It seems as if he were
saying, "See me make my wraps as big and thick as I can."
Many of the birds that sit up and fly about all the long cold night
are more warmly clothed than most day birds, who tuck themselves
into bed as soon as the sun sets. Examine the owls and see how
warmly they dress. Many of them wear trousers of feathers,
reaching to the knees or coming low down to the ankles. Often their
feet are covered with feathers down to their sharp claws. Their
necks, too, are all wrapped up with feathers, like comforters or
woollen scarfs, so that only the bill may be seen.
 Short-eared Owl.
It gets pretty cold in the middle of the night, and Mr. Owl knows
how to wrap himself up. Besides, with these thick, soft feathers he
can fly after his prey without making any noise.
A bird's shoes and stockings are strong and never seem to wear
out. If they become worn, they are mended so quickly you never
know the difference. The foot and leg are covered with scales, like
the scales on a lizard.
Birds and lizards are much alike; in fact, they are a sort of cousin
or distant relative, so that they dress alike in the matter of shoes
and stockings. Only the lizard wears scales all over, while a bird
wears them only for shoes and stockings. The bird has found out
that feathers are better for flying in the air, while the lizard, crawling
as he always does, is perfectly happy with only scales for clothes.
All birds, big and little, wear warm, fleecy underclothes, better
and softer than flannel. You can see bits of these underclothes at the
bottoms of the knee trousers or dresses, or, if you happen to be
holding a bird in your hand, you can part the outer clothes and see
and feel the delicate down. Sometimes, when a bird ruffles his outer
garments in washing himself, the soft warm underclothes are in plain
sight.
Birds never use complexion powders; that, no doubt, would seem
very vulgar to them. But they do use hair oil every day. They carry
this mixture about with them in their pockets. By pockets we mean
little pouches or sacks which always lie on the back, near the tail.
Birds would not be quite dressed without their pockets, and they
know where to find them without any trouble. We suppose this is
because birds' pockets have always been in the same place.
If it looks like rain, the "hair oil," as we call it, is used more
freely. Suppose the lady bird wishes to oil the back of her head and
around her face. Of course she is not able to take up the bottle and
pour the oil into her hand; but she squeezes a little out with her
beak, as you would press a rubber bulb. Then she lays the oil on her
back just above her wings.
To get the oil all about where she wishes to put it, she rubs her
head against it, twisting and turning her neck, until all the feathers
of her head are straight and shining.
When a shower comes, the water falls or slides down the bird's
back and shoulders on the oil, never finding its wet way beneath to
the underclothing. Birds are like those people who live in the cold
and wet north. The Eskimo are said to rub their whole bodies with
seal or fish oil to keep themselves from being wet.
Bird babies seldom have any clothing to begin life with. A few,
such as the walkers and waders and most of the swimmers, like
quail and sandpipers and ducks, are covered with thick down when
they come out of their shell.
Many of the bird babies in our yard have hardly a trace of the
finest down, while others have a little of it in patches, like tiny shirts
or bibs. Birds which have no clothes are hatched in the warmest
nests, and are close to the mother's breast almost all the time, until
their clothes have time to grow. They do not have oil in their pockets
until they have feathers to put it on.

A baby bird has such a wide mouth that he looks very odd. But
then, you see, his mouth is wide on purpose, so that the parent
birds can drop the food in quickly. If the parents had to hunt around
to find six or eight little mouths, many a nice bug or worm would get
away and the babies go hungry.
Look into a nest and see that four or five open bills are as much
of the young birds as you can catch sight of above the edge of the
nest. Each is trying to open his mouth a little wider than his brothers
and sisters so that it can get the first mouthful. We have often
wondered how the mother knows which bird to feed when she
comes to the nest. We spent two or three days once to be quite sure
that she fed all alike. She fed them in turn, even though she
returned many times, not once giving the last one another bite until
she had been all around. We do not know whether she counts them
or calls them by name, but she makes no mistake in feeding them.
We saw a humming-bird mother one day stand on the head of
one little baby birdling while she fed the other. Not all of her weight
was on the bird, of course, but quite enough to make him keep out
of her way while she fed his brother.
A baby bird gains nothing by teasing and coaxing; it must wait
for its turn to come, no matter how hungry it happens to be. It is
probably more greedy than hungry when it wants to get more than
its share.
 CHAPTER VII.
CHILD BIRDS.
During childhood, that is, during the first season, most birds look
quite different from their parents. Many of them do not get the color
or texture of grown-up birds for a year or more.
You can soon learn to tell which are the children among the birds
by what they wear and by the way they talk. Their voices are
childish and coaxing. They sometimes cry, and call in piping tones
even after they have learned to fly to the highest tree, or to soar far
into the blue sky, just to see how high they can go.
We have sometimes thought that bird children play at games of
hide-and-seek among the bushes, and that they try to see which one
of them can jump the farthest. Watch them for yourselves, and you
will see such fun as will make you laugh.
Birds are like other children, they get hungry very often at their
play. We have seen whole broods of young orioles following the old
birds about and teasing for food long after the next nest of birdlings
was hatched. These teasing children were as large as their parents,
and might better have been feeding their younger brothers and
sisters.
Parent birds often drive their young away from them, and eat the
food which they have caught themselves right before the children,
as if to say, "Go, find some for yourselves."
In Southern California, where we live, in midsummer the yard
seems full of young linnets[5] coaxing from day-light till dark. All the
limbs of the trees are alive with them. They stand in rows, with their
mouths wide open, and we wonder how the old birds can take care
of so many children at once. We see the young birds teasing one
another sometimes, as if they were saying, "Tommy dear," or, "Susy
dear, please divide your lunch."
[5] House finch, Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis.

Linnet.
So we see that birds have a childhood as well as a babyhood, but
it is very short, for they are soon taught to work hard and to be self-
supporting.
A lazy young bird never gets on in the world. Parent birds are
very kind but firm. It sounds as if they were sometimes scolding
good-naturedly. We imagine them saying to their children, "We have
shown you the seeds and the berries, now go to work. If you want
food, help yourselves; for we have been to market for you long
enough. Dress yourselves, too. See how you each have a bottle of
oil. Now be neat and careful of your clothes, for it will be a long
while before you get any more."
We have seen young birds make very awkward attempts at
dressing themselves. Sitting in a tree, they try to imitate the old
birds, fluttering and turning about, and rubbing their small heads on
their shoulders, and falling off from the branch in their excitement.
It is this daily care of their clothes that makes birds so beautiful.
It seems to us that they know very well that they will not be able to
get a new suit very often, and that they must take good care of
those clothes they have. We have never seen child birds smear their
food over their faces and clothes, not even when they were eating
bread and butter and stewed blackberries. It may seem funny to you
that birds should eat bread and butter and stewed blackberries, as if
they were cooks and housekeepers. But they really do, as you shall
see by and by.
Little birds pay attention to what is said to them. They learn their
lessons well, and they "say their pieces" like any child, and, like
children, they seem to make mistakes at first. They do not take their
dinner-pails and go long distances to school. They learn at home
with their fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters.
The school-house is anywhere, in the yard or the woods or fields.
If you take the trouble to listen and keep very quiet in midsummer,
you will be able to see and hear these bird schools going on at a
rate that will make you smile and think that birds are real people.
You can see the children in the nests or on the branches of trees,
or even on the ground, learning musical notes, and the letters of
their alphabet, and running the bird scale, just like any class in
school. Every now and then you will see them skip out for a drink of
water at the pump or brook. They may not hurry back at once, but
stop to look at themselves in the water and to frolic about in the
ferns and grass.
Birds have a very happy childhood. It will pay any child or grown
person to spend a whole summer or autumn in studying them and
their ways. This would be much better than wishing one could go
somewhere, when one hasn't the money to go with, or being
unhappy because one hasn't fine clothes and houses.
Young birds do not seem to be very much afraid of us. They only
look a little surprised and try to hop a bit faster if we go too near
them.
See how queer the tops of their heads look, with the baby down
still sticking out in little tufts through the thicker feathers. Their lips,
too, along the edges of the bill!—how yellow they are, as though
they had just been eating new spring butter.
Those soft yellow lips will soon turn dark and hard from use, just
as a real baby's feet lose their pink softness and grow callous when
the child goes barefoot a while.
Altogether, bird children are very interesting, and one who loves
them never gets tired of watching them. There is something new
and charming to learn every day. We wonder that there are any
unhappy or cross or sulky people in the world, when they may have
the birds to teach them better.
There is many a kind little boy who picks up a child bird and puts
it in a high place out of reach of cats and naughty boys. These may
be sure that the mother bird will find her young one, and you may
hear her thanking you, if you listen. Besides, every time a boy is
good to a child bird he has made his own childhood richer and
happier.
O happy little bird-child, full of life and
glee,
Won't you stay this summer in the yard
with me?
You shall have some berries when the
berries grow;
Berries don't hurt children—mother told
me so.
 CHAPTER VIII.
HOW BABY BIRDS ARE FED.
Some of the baby birds are nurslings, like the lambs and colts.
They are dependent upon what the parent birds first eat and digest.
Others eat just what the old birds do from the start. Only you will
notice that the mother bird pounds and bruises the food she gives to
her young, tapping it on the edge of the nest or on a twig or the
ground until it is soft enough for the birds to swallow without danger
of scratching their tender throats.
Linnets, pigeons, humming-birds, and some of the finches, are
nurslings. The food is prepared for them by the parent birds, and the
young are fed by the old bird's bill. We imagine that the bill of the
parent bird is the nursing-bottle. The old birds first eat food
themselves, and then work it over in their crops into a sort of paste
or milky fluid. Then, when the meal is all ready, they alight on the
edge of the nest and feed the babies. We have seen humming-bird
mothers feed the babies while poised on their wings above the nest.
Perhaps there are four or five finches all clamoring for breakfast,
crying, and stretching their little necks up as high as possible. The
old bird on the edge of the nest looks at the open mouths of all her
babies, and begins at the one she thinks is the hungriest. She puts
the nursing-bottle, which is her bill, far down the throat of the
nursling, clinging fast to the nest or twig with her toes, and moving
her bill up and down, her own throat throbbing all the while.
We once saw a humming-bird feed one of her young ones and
then fly away. During her absence the little birds changed places in
the nest, turning completely around. When the mother came back to
finish giving them their breakfast, she made no mistake, but fed the
hungry one, though both had their bills wide open.
When the mother has fed one child as much as she thinks is its
share, she turns to the next open mouth. In this way she nurses the
whole cradleful, who seem never to be satisfied.

Humming-Bird feeding her Young.

We have seen no "runts" or dwarf birds in a family, as are
sometimes seen in a nest of pigs or puppies. The parent birds seem
to understand, and to see that each baby has its proper share and
not a crumb more. They do not love one better than another.
Some birds keep on nursing their young long after we think the
lazy children are large enough to be looking out for themselves. It
would be no better than they deserve if they had to go hungry
sometimes. We think they often must get very hungry before they
have learned to work for their board. This is all right, for if the
parents kept on supporting them, what useless creatures they would
be!
We shall tell you after a while about our bird's restaurant. We
have seen the young birds follow their mother to the table at this
restaurant and stand coaxing for the crumbs. At first the mocking-
bird mother picks up the food and puts it in the young bird's mouth,
and then she flies away. She has given it only a little, just to show
the little bird where the food is and how to pick it up himself. There
he will stand, looking at the cookie crumbs and teasing as loud as he
can, but the mother will not come back. She sits in a tree near by
watching to see how her bird child learns his first lesson at helping
himself.
After a while, the young bird gets very hungry and begins
pecking for the crumbs. At first he makes very awkward attempts at
grabbing a crumb, but he succeeds at last and swallows the rest of
his breakfast. We laugh, sitting in the shade watching him, and we
think his mother is laughing too, in the tree above.
Those birds that do not nurse their young with liquid food are
supposed to give them water as well as food, by bringing it to them
in their beaks, though we have not seen them do so. Probably the
babies are fed on soft worms and fruits until they have cut their first
teeth.
How can the little things eat hard seeds and bones before they
have any teeth? Does it make you smile and wonder when we speak
of baby birds cutting their teeth? Don't you suppose birds have
teeth? Of course they have.
Every bird has a set of false teeth working out of sight. Birds
never have the toothache, and they do not have to be brave and
hold still while somebody pulls their teeth out. They can have a new
set of teeth as often as they need them, without paying a good price
to the dentist.
Look along the path and you will see these teeth, lying as thick
as hail in some places. Little sharp stones, coarse gravel, and fine
sand,—these are the bird's teeth. When a bird picks them up, he
swallows them, and they go, without any trouble, right where they
belong, down to a kind of pouch or pocket called the gizzard. This
pocket is lined with very tough muscles. These muscles or rings look
something like a fluting-iron or washboard, and as they move they
set the teeth or little stones to rolling against the food in such a way
that it is soon ground into bits, or rather into paste.
It takes a baby bird a long time to learn to pick up anything with
its bill. It will peck and peck at the food without being able to touch
it, as we have seen many birds do when brought up in a cage, and
as the little mocking-birds do at the garden table.
Once we had some pet orioles, and before we noticed what he
was doing, one of them made his bill look like a hawk's bill, all
curved or crooked. He had pecked so hard at the food on the board
floor of his cage that the hard taps had bent his soft bill out of
shape, and it remained so after the bird had grown up. We have
seen a blue jay and a thrush and a towhee, each with his beak out
of shape, twisted to one side or broken. This must have been done
when they were little. Birds, like other people, must have the right
start if they are to be beautiful when they are older.

Blue Jay.
 Though young birds can see the food before them, they have to
try a long while before they know exactly how to take hold of it.
They make us think of real babies trying to pick up some toy with
their fat little hands. A bird's bill at first is very soft, like a baby's
bones. If you feel of it, you will see that to the touch it is like a piece
of rubber.
The difficulty is really more with the bird's eyes than with his bill,
for it seems that, although he sees the food which he wants to eat,
he cannot measure the distance correctly until he has learned how
to see straight and aim right.

"Let me look in your mouth, little bird;

How many white teeth have you?
No teeth? then how do you chew your
food?
Be honest and tell me true."

"My teeth are all out of sight, little boy,

They are hard and white and firm;—
Out of sight, but they grind the seeds
like a mill,
And the bug, and the nice fat worm."
 CHAPTER IX.
AT MEAL-TIME.
If we had twenty birds in a cage and had to hunt for all the food
they could eat, the same as they would do if they were free, we
should have a busy time of it, and very likely the birds would starve.
Birds have sharp eyes. Watch the finches and see how they hop
from twig to twig, pecking at tiny things which we cannot even see.
These birds seem to be near-sighted, finding their dinner right under
their eyes. We could not possibly see anything so near our faces.
Then there are some of the birds who seem far-sighted, seeing
food at a longer distance than we could, and darting for it as quick
as a flash.
It is a fact that most birds are both near-sighted and far-sighted.
Their eyes are both telescopes and microscopes. Watch Madam
Mocker or Mrs. Robin. She will see a grasshopper on the other side
of the lawn, or a daddy-long-legs taking a sun-bath at the far end of
the picket fence. The grasshopper and the daddy haven't time to get
up and be off before they are surprised by Madam Bird's sharp bill.
Birds, like other people, must work if they will eat, and so they
go in search of the cupboard or the cellar, and it is sometimes hard
work to find them. The cupboard is anywhere in a dry place, and the
door is never locked. The cellar is almost anywhere, too, where it is
cool and damp, under the grass and chips and down in cracks
between logs and boards. The food in the cellar is very unlike the
food in the cupboard.
 There are some insects that never see the light and cannot bear
the sunshine. They are usually soft, tender things, and live where it
is moist and cool. We call these the food in the bird's cellar. There
are other insects that love the dry air, where it is warm, the bark of
trees and the hot sand, and these we call the food in the bird's
cupboard.
Birds spend nearly all their time in hunting for something to eat.
Life seems to be one long picnic for them. They digest rapidly. Their
food is found and picked up in very small quantities, excepting the
food of the gourmands like the buzzards. These birds are certainly
not very tidy or nice about their meals. They eat as much as they
possibly can, and then sit about on the low fences, or even on the
ground, too full and heavy to fly away.
Birds have sharp ears and can hear bugs and worms long before
they can be seen. The woodpecker listens for the grubs with his ear
close to the bark of the trees. But woodpeckers are not always after
grubs when you see them running up and down a tree trunk and
pecking holes in the bark. They like the inner skin of the bark for
food, and the sap-suckers drink the sap of the tree.
Watch the robin or the mocking-bird on the lawn. You have been
sprinkling that lawn for two weeks in midsummer, just to make the
grass nice and green. Perhaps you did not think that you were
making it easy for the birds to get something to eat in a dry time.
But you see that your sprinkling or watering has made the turf
mellow and soft, so that the worms can crawl up to the surface
more easily than if it were dry. And the birds are making the most of
your kindness, as you see.
See how that little bird cants his head and listens. We imagine
him holding up his hand and saying, "Don't move, please, nor do
anything to scare this worm away. I hear it coming up to the top of
the ground, and I am very hungry."
 Downy Woodpecker.
Once we saw a very funny sight. A mocking-bird in the yard had
grown very tame and had nested close by, taking no pains to fly
away from us. She soon came to know that we had something for
her to eat when we called, "Come, Chickie," and she would fly close
to us with eager eyes, not at all afraid.
Every night at sundown, which is the bird's supper-time, we went
to the summer-house and turned over the empty flower-pots. Under
these pots little black bugs were hiding, but more especially the saw-
bugs, soft, gray, crawling things. The mocking-bird would follow us
as fast as she could, picking up the bugs for her young. When she
had a mouth full of the wriggling insects, she would go and feed
them to her babies and come back again to the moist places under
the pots, until every bug was captured.
 Once there were more bugs under one pot than she could
possibly carry at one time, and she was in great trouble to know
what to do about it. She swallowed as many as she wanted herself,
and then she began cramming her mouth full for the babies. The
bugs looked so tempting, and there were so many, she did not like
to lose any of them, and so she kept on picking them up. After her
mouth was as full as it could hold, the bugs kept falling out at the
sides of her bill, and she would pick them up again over and over
without knowing it, until we scared her away by our laughing.
Some birds, as we have said, such as the owls, take their food
whole. Of course, bones, hair, and feathers cannot be digested, so
after a time they are thrown up in the shape of little balls, called
"castings," and by examining them we can find out exactly what the
bird has been eating.
Most of the birds we are acquainted with pick their food very
carefully, and eat only that which will digest without trouble. You can
see them hold it down with one foot, looking at it closely to be quite
sure that it is really good to eat. They often pull it to shreds and
swallow it in little bits. If it is a butterfly dinner, the wings are torn
off and sent floating to the ground. If it is a grasshopper supper, the
tough, wiry legs of the insect are thrown away, and only the rich,
luscious breast and fat thighs are eaten.
In California we have the pepper tree, which is all covered with
clusters of red berries. Under the thin, red skin is a sweet, soft pulp
which covers the seed. The pulp is all there is of the pepper berry
which the birds can digest. But this is a very sweet morsel indeed,
and tourist birds come a long distance to get it.

Robin redbreasts,[6] come here in winter to eat our pepper

berries, and then, of course, they disgorge the hard seeds, which
they cannot possibly digest, just as the owls do the bones of their
prey.
[6] Merula migratoria propinqua.
 We think the mocking-birds have taught the robins to do this,
and we have noticed the wax-wings[7] doing the same thing.
[7] Ampelis cedrorum.

When the winter tourist birds make a raid on our yards, we can
hear the tiny pepper seeds fall in a shower on our tin roofs, under
the tall trees, and the door-steps will be covered. Sometimes the
seeds come down so thick and fast that we can think of nothing but
a hail-storm. The pepper berries ripen in midwinter, and it is worth
one's while to see a flock of robins and wax-wings come into our
yard. In a few days almost every pepper tree has been robbed, and
nothing is left us but the brown seeds.
These, and other birds from the north who come to pay us a visit
in winter, are tamer than they are at home. They seem to think that
we are on our honor to be polite to strangers, and so we are.
If you watch closely, wherever you live, at some time in the year
you will see visiting birds in your yard and you ought to be polite to
them.
 CHAPTER X.
SEED-EATERS AND MEAT-EATERS.
If we wish to keep one of the wild birds in a cage, we usually
select one of the seed-eaters. These birds are gentle and are readily
tamed. Our tame canaries are descended from the wild seed-eaters.
Seed-eating birds make us think of some nations of men who live
on rice or fruit. Those who have been among these people tell us
that they are gentle and kind and ready to learn.
Many birds are very fond of spiders. It is said that spiders are a
kind of "bird medicine," and that some birds could not live without
them. This seems rather hard for the spiders, but sometimes they
pay the birds back. There is said to be a spider in a certain part of
the world which is so large and strong that it eats birds. It lies in
wait and catches small, weak birds as if they were so many flies.
This seems very cruel, because we love the birds so much. But we
might learn to love the spiders just as well, if we should get better
acquainted with them.
 Chimney Swift.
When you are outdoors just after sundown, you will sometimes
see a great many swifts and swallows in the air, darting around in
great circles. They do not seem to be going anywhere or doing
anything in particular. But you will find that they really have
something very important on hand. They are eating their late
suppers.
There are tiny insects high up where the birds are flying, whole
swarms of them, and these make a delicious supper for the hungry
birds.
 Arkansas Goldfinch.

The finches, or wild canaries,[8] as we call them in Southern

California, are among our commonest birds. These birds shell plant-
seeds before swallowing them, as one can see by watching flocks of
them in the sunflower patches. We have thrown hard crumbs out to
them in the yard, and they have been seen to crack these crumbs all
to pieces, thinking of course that there must be a shell.
[8] Spinus psaltria and Spinus tristis.

The birds do not crack or break their teeth or beaks, be the

seeds ever so hard, as a child would be very likely to do on a walnut.
Every bird carries a nutcracker about with him wherever he goes. If
a finch gets hold of a very tough, hard seed, he slips it far back in
the beak, where the angle of the jaw gives better strength or force.
He can then break it easily, as you would crack the hardest nut by
placing it close to the hinge of the nutcracker.
If the seed is tender or brittle, the bird pushes it to the point of
his beak with his tongue and presses on it. Out drops the seed-cover
to the ground, leaving the meat in the bird's bill.
 Our tame canary has an original way of preparing his food. We
give him cookie or bread, and he breaks off bits and carries them to
his water dish, into which he drops them. After they have soaked a
little while, he goes back and picks them out and eats them. Now his
teeth are not at all poor, for he cracks his canary seeds without any
trouble. We think he likes a little mush for a change, and so he
makes it for himself.
One sometimes wonders why our garden birds do not store away
food when it is plentiful, as squirrels do. There are ever so many
nice hiding-places all about. Some wild birds do hide their food, thus
"laying up something for a rainy day," which we think is about the
right thing for birds and other people to do.
One reason why our civilized birds do not store their food is that
a supply of one kind or another is almost always to be found.
Besides, many of our birds travel about so much, always going
where food is, that there is no need of storing it.
The seed-eaters do not travel much, as seeds may always be
found, in winter as well as in summer. Birds that depend for food
upon insect life must go in search of it as the seasons change.
One sometimes thinks the birds do little else but think about
meal-time. A singer will sometimes "make believe" forget, while he
sits on his swaying branch, pouring out his throat full of melody, as if
he did not care if he never tasted food again. But suddenly, without
a hint, there is a stop in the music that doesn't belong just there,
and the bird darts to the ground. He swallows a worm or a blue-
jacketed fly, and then back he goes to his perch and his song, as if
he had not been interrupted at all.
We do not think it is the worst fate in the world to be eaten by a
bird and made into song and chirp and flutter. We owe a good deal
to the insects, which the birds we love so much could not do
without. We ought to think of this and not step on a bug or worm in
the path.
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