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Bird - Lore 



days of sitting in that little box, hatching 

 our eggs; and, when our little ones come 

 from the shell, we will graciously relieve 

 the Sparrows by feeding our own young." 



The morning of June 14, all of the 

 Sparrows had hatched and two of the 

 Wrens, and it was with difficulty that I 

 could tell them apart. 



Returning at noon, I hastened to look 

 again into the box, and found that 

 another Wren's egg had hatched; but, 

 alas! all three of the Wrens had disap- 

 peared, and the last Wren, hatching 

 before seven o'clock the next morning, 

 suffered the same fate, and disappeared 

 in less than an hour. While I did not see 

 the Sparrow carry the young Wrens 

 from the nest, I am sure that she made 

 •way with them in some way. 



The story is told, the Sparrows had 

 •once more come out victors, proving that 

 they could win over the Wrens any way 

 the fight was fought, and one more 

 brood of young Wrens was lost to the 

 world. 



The Wrens partly built a nest behind 

 a blind on the house, deserting it for a 

 :site in the well-house. Leaving this nest, 

 -they disappeared from the garden, and 

 I found them in middle August with a 

 full brood of young in the sleeve of a 

 scarecrow in my neighbor's garden.— 

 Wilbur F. Smith, South Norwalk, Conn. 



A Unique Experience With the Ruffed 

 Grouse Family 



It happened in the Snake Den Country. 

 This secluded and wild bit of Rhode 

 Island is entered bj^ an old cart path, a 

 perfect arcade winding through gorge 

 and swamp, and leading up to an aban- 

 doned gold mine. The way passes through 

 pine and hemlock, alder and huckleberry, 

 sumach and cedar, with dogwood, laurel, 

 maple and chestnut in abundance. It 

 is a delightful cover, and one where the 

 quiet wanderer will feel that something 

 out of the ordinary must happen if he 

 but be on the watch. At least, that was 

 the feeling which possessed me on a 

 beautiful morning in August last, when 



I entered the charm of its shade in quiet 

 and leisurely pursuit of a tiger swallow- 

 tail. I was foiled in my attempt to net 

 this splendid butterfly because of its 

 erratic and dazzling flight. I managed to 

 capture a couple of Thysbes from a way- 

 side thistle, and, as I quietly resumed my 

 walk, the calm of the summer morning 

 was shattered by a tremendous thrashing 

 of bushes in the swamp to my left. I 

 thought I had Jumped a whole deer fam- 

 ily. At the same instant, a Hen Grouse 

 dropped down out of a cedar thicket to 

 the right, and trailed off with her wing 

 dragging. I was strongly tempted to 

 pursue the old lady, but remembrance 

 of many fruitless chases of younger days 

 brought me to a sudden halt. After 

 waiting a few moments, during which the 

 din in the swamp was in no way dimin- 

 ished, I very gingerly stepped into the 

 thicket, hoping to be able to detect the 

 young Grouse in their posture of 'freezing.' 

 As soon as I started to do this, a bomb was 

 exploded in the swamp and projected 

 directly at me. It proved to be the cock. 

 He came straight on until within ten 

 yards, where he lit on the ground and, 

 with head stuck straight out, neck feathers 

 ruffed, tail erected, it seemed as if he 

 was actually going to do me bodily harm. 

 When he was within six feet of me, he 

 evidently' considered "discretion the bet- 

 ter part of valor," for he turned and made 

 down the cart-path with a constant 

 chuck chuck accompanying the quit quit 

 of the hen a little farther along. Both 

 disappeared in the thick brush, but con- 

 tinued calling, while I very carefully, 

 step by step, advanced to see if I could 

 not locate the chicks. There was little 

 need of caution, however, for I soon 

 flushed them, and found them to be over 

 half-grown and very able of wing. They 

 flew in all directions. I crept over to a 

 nearby ledge, and by keeping very still 

 was able to partly observe the old birds 

 gather the brood together. It was the 

 first and only time that I have ever found 

 the cock Grouse aiding in protecting and 

 rearing the j'oung chickens. — Clifton W. 

 LovELAND, East Providence, R. I. 



