Two Studies in Blue 169 



mother was setting on the eggs she became very tame, and 

 we often reached in and stroked her feathers. 



When the young birds came I watched the mother 

 come to feed and brood her young. The father was the 

 ever-watchful admirer, but the mother was all business, 

 and paid no attention to him except to knock him out of 

 the way when he was too devoted. The mother always 

 brought in the food, and the father kept staying away 

 more and more, until the young birds were grown. 



One day while I was watching, the mother was feed- 

 ing the youngsters on maggots almost entirely. She was 

 gone quite a while, but each time returned with a large 

 mouthful, which she fed to the young. Occasionally one 

 of the young failed to get all of them, and if one dropped 

 the mother picked it up and ate it herself. 



One of the eggs was addled and did not hatch, but 

 the mother was very fond of it. She would look at it 

 almost every time she returned, and would turn it over, 

 and then cover it a few moments, as if she were sure it 

 contained a baby bird. 



The nest was lined with horsehair, and once when the 

 mother fed one of the chicks, the food caught and the 

 little bird swallowed the hair too, but both ends stuck 

 out of his mouth. He kept shaking his head, but could 

 not get rid of it. I waited to see if the mother would 

 assist him, but she didn't seem to notice his trouble, so 

 I had to reach in and dislodge the hair. Otherwise I am 

 afraid it would have fared badly with the chick. 



These bluebirds had five young in their first brood. 

 When the first youngster left the nest the father became 

 more attentive, and helped care for the little ones that 



