Year: 1873

and covering the entrance to the nest. The
bird seldom makes any effort to escape,
seeing how hopeless the case is, and keeps
her place on the nest till she feels your
hand closing around her. 1 have looked
down into the cavity and seen the poor
thing palpitating with fear and looking up
With distended eyes, but never moving till
had withdrawn few PAGES; then she
nshes out with cry that brings the male
q the scene in hurry. He warbles and


Tits his wings beseechingly, but shows no
niger or disposition to scold and complain
Ike most birds. Indeed this bird seems
Incapable of uttering harsh note, or of
ioing spiteful, ill-tempered thing.


The ground-builders all have some art
pr device to decoy one away from the nest,
affecting lameness, a crippled wing. or a
broken back, promising an easy capture if
pursued. The tree-builders depend upon


c'ncealing the nest or placing it beyond
reach. But the blue-bird has no art
either way. and its nest is easily found.


About the only enemies the sitting-bird
OF the nest is in danger of are snakes and
squirrels. l knew farm-boy who was in
the habit Of putting his hand down into q
blue-bFd's nest and taking out the old
bird whenever he came that way. One
day he put his hand in. and feeling some-
thing peculiar, withdrew it hastily, when
it was instantly followed by the head and
neck OF an enormous black snake. The boy
took to his heels and the snake gave chase,
pressing him close till ploughman near
by same to the rescue with his ox-whip.


There never was happier or m ore de-
voted husband than the male blue-bird is.
But among nearly all our familiar birds
the serious cares of life seem to devolve
almost entirely upon the female. The
male is hilarious and demonstrative, the
female serious and anxious about her
charge. The male is the attendant of the
female, following her wherever she goes.
He never leads, he never directs, bu. only
seconds and applauds. If his life is all
poetry and romance, hers is all business
and prose. She has no pleasure but her
duty, and no duty but to look after her
nest and brood. She shows no affection
for the male, no pleasure in his society ::
she onl y tolerates him as a necessary evil.
and, if he is killed, goes in quest of an.
other in the most business. like manner, sas
you would 60 for the plumber or the ga-
zler. In most cases the male is the orna.
mental partner in the firm, and contributes
little of the working capital. There seems
to be more equality of the sexes among the
woodpeckers, wrens, and swallows while
the contrast is greatest perhaps in the
bobolink family, where the courting is
done in the Arab fashion, the female
fleeing with all her speed and the male
pursuing with equal precipitation aud
were it not for the broods of young birds
that appear, it would be hard to believe
that the intercourse ever ripened into
anything more intimate.


With the blue-birds. the male is useful
as we'll as ornamental. He is the CAV
champion and escort of the female at all
times, and while she is sitting he feeds her
regularly. 1t is very pretty to watch
them building their nest. The male is
very active in hunting out a place and
exploring the boxes and cavities, but
seems TO have no choice in the matter and
is anxious only to please and encourage


his mate, who has the practical turn and
knows what will do and what will not do.
After she has suited herself he applauds
her immensely, and away the two 20 in
quest of material for the nest, the male
acting as guard and flying above and in
advance of the female. She brings all the
material and does all the work of building.
he looking on and encouraging her with


gesture and song. He acts also as inspec-


tor of her work, but l feat is a very par.
tlal one. She enters the nest with her bit
of dry grass or straw, and having adjusted
it to her notion, withdraws and waits near
by while he goes in and looks it over. On
coming out he exclaims very plainly, Er.
cellent ! excellent :" and away 20 the two
again for more material.


The blue-birds, when they build about
the farm. buildings, sometimes come in con.
fict with the swallows. The past season
l knew pair to take forcible possession
OF the domicle Of pair of the latter
the cliff species that now stick their nests
under the caves of the barn. The blue.
birds had been broken up in little bird
house near by, by the rats, or perhaps a
weasel, and being no doubt in bad hu-
NOR, and the season being we'll advanced,
they made forcible entrance into the adobe
tenement of their neighbors, and held
possession of it tor some days, but 1 be-
lieve finally withdrew, rather than live
amid such squeaky, noisy colony. have
heard that these swallows, when elected
from their homes in that way by the
phebe-bird, have been known to fall to
and mason up the entrance to the nest
while their enemy was inside of it, thus
having revenge as complete as anything
in human annals.


The blue-birds and the house wrens
more frequently come into collision. A
few years ago put up a little bird.house
In the back end Of my garden for the ac-
of the wrens, and eyery
season pair have taken up their abode
thefe' One spring pair OF blue birds
looked into the tenement and fingered
about several days, leading me to hope
that they would conclude to occupy it.
But they hnally went away, and later in
the season the wrens appeared. and after
little coquetting, were regularly installed
in their old quarters and were az happy as
only wrens can be.


One of our younger poets, Myron Ben
ton, saw little bird


-ruffled with whirlwind of his ecstasies,
which must have been the wren, as I
know OF no other bird that so throbs and
palpitates with music as this little vaga-
bond. And the pair l speak of seemed
exceptionally happy, and the male had
small tornado of song in his crop that KEEP.
him ruft1ed every moment in the day. But
before their honovnoov mn. o-o- Al LIZ