FAVORITISM IN THE FAMILY. 171 



how was this ! a brown baby clad like herself ! 

 Could it be that the sons and daughters of this 

 warbler family outrage all precedent by wearing 

 their grown-up dress in the cradle? We con- 

 sulted the authorities and found our conclusion 

 was correct. 



Henceforth we watched with greater interest 

 than before. Every day that we came into the 

 woods we saw the little party of four, always 

 near together, scrambling about under the sap- 

 lings or among the jewel- weed, or running over 

 the tangled branches of a fallen tree, the two 

 younger calling in sharp little voices for food, 

 and the elders bustling about on low trees to 

 find it. 



We soon noticed that there was favoritism in 

 the family. Papa fed only the little man, while 

 mamma fed the little maid, though she too 

 sometimes stuffed a morsel into the mouth of 

 her son. Let us hope that by this arrangement 

 both babies are equally fed, and not, as is often 

 the case, the most greedy secures the greatest 

 amount. 



We had now reached the last of July, and the 

 woods were full of new voices, not alone the 

 peeps or chirps of birdlings impatient for food. 

 There were baffling rustles of leaves in the tree- 

 tops, rebounds of twigs as some small form left 

 them, flits of strange-colored wings, — migration 



