68 



tention to us. The nest was in an exposed position, where 

 the sun shone brightly on it during the forenoon, so she 

 brooded the little birds a great deal. She would stand over 

 them with wings slightly spread, warding off the fierce 

 rays of the sun from her offspring; such was her devotion. 

 About every five minutes her mate would bring some kind 



Fig. 57. When ive placed the little birds on a branch, mother 

 Chebec at once fed them and then looked long at the glass- 'V2/f" 

 staring at her. 



of a winged insect for the little ones, and she would instant- 

 ly dart down into the coolness of the foliage below, only to 

 return in a few minutes to take up her task. 



This pair of birds and the three young remained about 

 the orchard until the end of summer; the next year a pair, 

 and I think it was the same, had a nest within a few feet 

 of where the other was, but this time it was placed where 

 the sun did not shine on it at all; had she remembered the 

 suffering of the previous year? 



