lo8 BIRD WORLD, 



and when I had desolated the highway of ants and 

 was descending the ladder, she flew from the limb 

 below the nest to the top rung of the ladder, and after 

 I fed her there, to the next rung, following me some 

 distance. The male, whom I soon learned to distin- 

 guish by the richer yellow of his throat, was naturally 

 aroused and indignant at this intrusion. While his 

 mate was eating peacefully from my hand, he flew 

 backward and forward close to my head, uttering a 

 harsh, scolding note, which I never heard from the 

 female. 



In about a week after he first witnessed the perform- 

 ance, the male became, to a certain extent, reconciled 

 to his wife's strange conduct. He did not dart at my 

 head so often, and he developed a habit which gave 

 me a much higher opinion of his character, — flying 

 to the nest when the female followed me and keeping 

 the eggs warm during her absence. 



Once, indeed, while I was feeding her on the nest, 

 some time after he had grown used to me, I heard 

 him scolding more violently than ever. I wondered 

 at his renewed vigilance, till I saw that he was watch- 

 ing, not me, but a male vireo. His anger at my intru- 

 sion had, been somewhat modified by astonishment, 

 but the presence of another bird was an occurrence 

 he understood and felt competent to deal with. 



The male never fed from my hand, although he 



