The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-06-22

s'Blow gently. winds of Junel Each downy nest
Is full of unsung songs and improved wings
That will respond to patient lowering;
Soft BOOKINGS suit the rustic cradles best"
IT is a beautiful thought in June,
to the lover of birds, that all about us
in field and wood, by roadside and
seashore, under our caves, in our
chimneys, on our apple trees, are
dainty little homes - nurseries =
where is being enacted the old yet
ever new mystery of motherhood.
In bird home the mother is queen,
though the selection of nesting site
is often, perhaps generally, the united
Judgment of the pair. When, as
sometimes happens, opinions differ,
complications may arise leading to
serious disagreement, but usually an
amicable settlement is reached, as in
the case of a pair of phebes, who
differed regarding the desirability of
two corners under piazza roof, and
each one built complete nest in the
corner chosen. During the building
they freely inspected each others
work, and much talk, animated but
not quarrelsome, went on over the
important affair. When the work
was ended and two finished cradles
offered themselves for selection, the
mother magnanimously yielded her
own wishes and adopted the home
prepared for her.
In another case the result was the
other way, the little madame retained
her own, and her nate cheerfully ac-
guessed in her decision. With a
pair of robins, however, the difference
was so serious that / feared it would
lead to divorce, if not to absolute in
sanity, the female, who had been dis
appointed in her wishes of place
under piazza, showed herself SO err
ratio and SO unreasonable, selecting
an absurd twig and pretending to
build without the least intention of
doing SO (as was easily SEEM while
her mate hung around disconsolate,
and evidently quite uncertain how to
take her moods. But this, too, was
finally arranged.
The Building of the Nest
In general, when the nest is an
open, simple affair the mother is sole
builder. Not, l feel sure from what
| have observed, because of the in
difference of the young spouse; on
the contrary, he is anxious above all
things to assist; he is most assiduous
in his attentions, bringing materials
and showing unbounded delight
when they are accepted, and when not
allowed to do this, helping by close
attendance upon her every moment;
following her as guardian and pro-
tector on her trips for material; ex-
pressing his sympathy and delight
in every possible way; bristling up
at once at any danger to her, and
above all entertaining her with
song, the most ecstatic within his
power He is not only her admirer,
her lover, he is also her slave, who
lives but to serve her.
If the home is to be fashioned with
great labor, like the wooden castle of
the woodpeckers, the underground
dungeon of the kingfshers, the adobe
structure of the barn swallows, or the
woven hammock of the orioles, the
little homemaker does not refuse the
assistance of her mate, though l have
known case where a Baltim ore
oriole drove away her spouse with
harsh words when he attempted to
help. The chickadees not only work
together over their little home with
Joyous chatter, but while one is work
ing the other brings food to cheer his
Tor herr labor.
Life in the Bird Nursery.
The nest completed and eggs de-
posted, any number desired, from
the two which satisfy the humming
birds and hawks to the round dozen
preferred by Bob White and his kind,
life in the nest begins. The mother
settles herself to her long task, vary
ing from the ten or twelve days of
small bird to three or four weeks of
an eagle.
The manners of the pair at this
time are most interesting. All the
domestic qualities are brought out,
and the close and patient observer
learns moreof the characteristics and
individuality of the two birds than in
all the rest of the year together.
The change in the female is marked
From the fussy and anxious cares
connected with selecting a place and
building her home, she subsidies at
once Tito the silent, patient sitter.
Hour after hour she passes in quiet,