Some Problems With Everyday Birds 



A Department for the Instruction and Information of Members of the American Forestry Association Regarding Birds and 



the Conservation of Bird Life 



By a. a. Allen, Ph.D. 



AS the years go by and the number of ornithologists 

 and people interested in birds and bird life is 

 continually increasing, investigations are carried 

 further and further afield, until the most remote and in- 

 accessible corners of the globe are being searched for new 

 birds and new facts about those already known. But the 

 world is not large enough for all to be travellers and ex- 

 plorers and there are many who must be content to stay 

 at home and interest themselves in the problems of every- 



at its structure, however, would convince anyone that the 

 two compartments were built at the same time and that 

 both had been occupied. The author was at a loss to 

 account for it and therefore when this spring his attention 

 was called to a similar pair of nests that were still occu- 

 pied, interest was redoubled. The two nests had a common 

 foundation over the post of a front porch and adjoined 

 each other closely although the rims were distinct. The 

 nests were not discovered until after both were completed 

 and the eggs laid, so that nothing is known of how they 

 were built. At this time, however, a bright-colored bird, 

 presumed to be a male, was sitting on three eggs in one 

 nest and a dull-colored bird, presumed to be a female, was 

 incubating three in the other. As the author had to leave 



A TWO-FAMILY ROBIN'S NEST 



How the modern apartment house idea is adopted by birds — although the 

 condition is so unusual as to arouse particular interest and many surmises as 

 to the cause, one of which is that the father of the family is a polygamist. 



day birds. Many questions have lain unanswered for 

 generations, others are continually arising, so that the 

 stay-at-home ornithologist should never be at a loss for 

 something to do. Some of the problems bear directly on 

 the birds' relations to man and are of great economic 

 importance ; others are valuable in our search for truth or 

 interesting in the parallel which they make to our own 

 lives. All of them give new zest to the study of birds 

 and disclose how much goes unseen and how little of what 

 we do see, we understand. They teach us to observe more 

 carefully and to reason logically. 



Perhaps no field of ornithology ofifers greater oppor- 

 tunity for discovery than that of the home life of birds, 

 and certainly no field is more delightfully full of surprises. 

 One has a reason to feel, for example, that everything that 

 can be learned about robins has already been discovered 

 and published. Here, however, is an incident which will 

 bear further study. 



A few years ago there was brought to the author a 

 double robin's nest shown in the accompanying photo- 

 graph. It was not discovered until after the birds had 

 left, so that nothing was known of its history. A glance 



718 



THE SECOND BIRD APARTMENT HOUSE 



The history of this double nest shows that three robins had shares in it. although 

 the ornithologists are not able to satisfactorily explain the reason for this depart- 

 ure from their usual habit. 



by an early train, further observations were made by the 

 discoverer of the nest, Aliss Mabel Carey. 



The day following, another egg appeared in the " fe- 

 male's " nest and two days later, the eggs in the " male's " 

 nest hatched, showing that there must have been an in- 

 terval of nearly two weeks between the laying of the two 

 sets of eggs and probably, therefore, between the build- 

 ing of the two nests. With the hatching of the " male's " 

 eggs, the " female " showed considerable interest in the 

 young birds and helped to feed them several times during 

 the day, although she spent most of the time on her own 

 nest. Now, however, a third robin appeared, bright in 

 color like the first " male " and helped feed the young 

 but did not stop to brood. Neither of the two " males " 

 showed much interest in the " female's " nest until four 

 days later, when '' male " number one was seen to incubate 



