194 WAKE-ROBIN 



seconds and applauds. If his life is all poetry and 

 romance, hers is all business and prose. She has 

 no pleasure but her duty, and no duty but to look 

 after her nest and brood. She shows no affection 

 for the male, no pleasure in his society; she only 

 tolerates him as a necessary evil, and, if he is 

 killed, goes in quest of another in the most busi- 

 ness-like manner, as you would go for the plumber 

 or the glazier. In most cases the male is the or- 

 namental partner in the firm, and contributes little 

 of the working capital. There seems to be more 

 equality of the sexes among the woodpeckers, wrens, 

 and swalloAvs; while the contrast is greatest, per- 

 haps, in the bobolink family, where the courting is 

 done in the Arab fashion, the female fleeing with all 

 her speed and the male pursuing with equal precipi- 

 tation ; and were it not for the broods of young birds 

 that appear, it would be hard to believe that the in- 

 tercourse ever ripened into anything more intimate. 

 With the bluebirds the male is useful as well as 

 ornamental. He is the gay champion and escort of 

 the female at all times, and while she is sitting he 

 feeds her regularly. It is very pretty to w^atch 

 them building their nest. The male is very active 

 in hunting out a place and exploring the boxes and 

 cavities, but seems to have no choice in the matter 

 and is anxious only to please and encourage his 

 mate, who has the practical turn and knows what 

 will do and what will not. After she has suited 

 herself he applauds her immensely, and away the 

 two go in quest of material for the nest, the male 



