8 TRAVELS ABOUT HOME 



neighboring wood ; one might have thought that the nest in 

 the pine was deserted, had not five gaping months been tre- 

 mulously raised at intervals in the supplicating attitude of 

 the young birds' prayer for food. 



At the end of an hour and a half, one of the parents sud- 

 denly appeared at the back of the nest. He, or she, was evi- 

 dently suspicious. Who had parted the boughs that had 

 previously concealed their home? What was this mass of 

 disarranged vines at their threshold? Clearly something 

 was wrong, and after a moment's stay, she — if she it was- - 

 slipped quietly out of the tree. ITer alert l)nt cautious man- 

 ner seemed indicative of unexpected powers of discrimina 

 tion and self-control. She did not voice her undonbtel 

 alarm at the changes observed, but without audible note, 

 departed as noiselessly as she had come. 



Even more surprising were the actions of the young 

 birds. That they were exceedingly hungry was beyond 

 (juestion. Doubtless the parents, under normal conditions, 

 visited the nest every few minutes, and the frequency with 

 which the yellow-lined mouths had been opened duriu"' the 

 preceding hour and a half, intimated an approaching fam- 

 ine. Still, imder the stimulus of conditions which must have 

 strongly suggested food, not one of the blind, naked little 

 creatures gave evidence of life. It was an impressive exhi- 

 bition of instinctive obedience to some, unheard by me, com- 

 mand. In the parent's absence, however, although without 

 the incentive of hei" form above them, they showed no hesi- 

 tation in making their wants known. Hence we may con- 

 clude eithei' that the ])arents could not communicate with 

 the young from a distance, or that the presence of one of the 

 adults was necessary to insure obedience. 



Believing that the Jays would not resume their family 

 cares, I detei-mined to experiment with them, and taking a 

 mounted Blue Jay, I wired it to a limb below the nest. Blue 

 Jays are pugnacious, and douhtlcss tlieii- angei- at the in- 

 trusion of this stranger would outweigh their fear of the 



