342 THE STORY OF A BIRD LOVER 



in the brood, just beginning to show the larger 

 wing and tail feathers, but otherwise covered 

 with down. They were not more than five or six 

 days old. The nest and its inmates were carried 

 to the house, and while I did not feel at all sure 

 that it was possible to rear the tiny creatures, I 

 determined to try the experiment. The fledg- 

 lings were alike in size and appearance, and in 

 order to have a record, in case it should prove 

 of value, one of them was preserved in alcohol. 

 The other two I attempted to rear by hand, and 

 was entirely successful. 



It is sufficient for my present purpose to say 

 here that these birds were not only reared, but 

 lived to be between five and six years old, and 

 that they ultimately died, as I believe, of old age. 

 Throughout their life they enjoyed as large an 

 amount of liberty as was possible under the cir- 

 cumstances, and while they were confined at 

 times to a cage, there was hardly a day during 

 the first three years that they did not enjoy the 

 liberty of flying about the rooms of the house. 

 Later, when I determined from the interest that 

 they awakened in me to utilize a room entirely 

 for live birds, these two orioles were never con- 

 fined in narrow quarters. In a paper recently 

 published, and referred to in the appendix, I have 

 set forth a record of the development of these 

 two birds, and of their powers of song, so I shall 



