156 BIRD WORLD. 



It is in nesting time, of course, that birds suffer the 

 most anxiety. When any strange creature approaches 

 the nest, the mother's restless eye watches anxiously. 

 The father is often near at hand, and if the nest or 

 young are threatened, an outcry is raised at once. 



The day the young first fly and the succeeding ones, 

 till they are skilful and strong, are times of watchful- 

 ness. But there are many happy hours even in nest- 

 ing time. Bright, sunny days come, when the male 

 sings for hours from some tree near by, and the female 

 broods on the nest, happy to feel the warm eggs under 

 her. 



When the young are old enough to care for them- 

 selves, then the birds' holiday begins, and it often 

 lasts till the following spring. Nothing to do now 

 but to get food from the thick patches of weeds or 

 the numerous insects. An eye must be kept out for 

 the shadow of a hawk's wing, and by the game birds 

 for the approach of a gunner; but many birds run 

 little risk even from these enemies. Many of the 

 birds flock together at this season ; many sleep in 

 great companies, and at night, when they go to bed, 

 they make as much noise and have as jolly a time as 

 a band of children. 



A bird's memory is too short to remember suffering 

 for long, and his little brain does not look forward, as 

 ours do, to evil that may come. His nature teaches 



