320 Bird -Lore 



the whistled imitation of the Grosbeak's song was tried, and — was it only a 

 coincidence? — the hungry mouth opened at once. From that time on, the 

 only reason to complain was from the bill's being open too much of the time. 

 A cage was made by rolling a strip of galvanized iron netting, with a half- 

 inch mesh, into a circular cylinder about eighteen inches high and two feet 

 in diameter. This was placed on a layer of newspapers upon a low table near 

 a well-lighted bay-window, or sometimes taken on to the lawn. A square 

 piece of the same netting was laid over the top, for a cover. Thin sticks, run 

 through horizontally, served as perches. In point of simplicity and conven- 

 ience, this left little to be desired. 



Their food consisted chiefly of earthworms, moist bread, hard-boiled eggs, 

 bits of raw meat, and berries, all of which were very acceptable. Water was, 

 of course, frequently given. A long, slender pair of tweezers, of the kind used 

 for mounting insects, proved to be a good "spoon" for food. After they had 

 learned to pick up their own food, a supply of seeds was kept in the cage, as 

 well as a dish of water. 



On July 4, we were given the care of a young male Robin, just out of the 

 nest. Worms and berries were soon found to be his most approved articles of 

 diet. Moist bread was accepted up to a certain extent, also egg. Soon after 

 this Hansel accidentally escaped, and the Robin was placed in the cage with 

 Gretel. During the ten days that passed before the two were liberated, they 

 utterly ignored each other most of the time. Once, however, while Gretel 

 was picking up food, the Robin, now considerably larger than she, hopped up 

 to her, fluttering his wings and begging as if she were his own parent. She 

 snapped at him impatiently and I did not see the performance repeated. 

 It was most interesting to observe the dilTerence in appearance and behav- 

 iour between the Grosbeak and the Robin. Gretel's dainty ways, her soft 

 pleading tones, and the little note of satisfaction after she had been fed, as 

 well as her habit of nibbling at her food with the sharp tip of her bill, con- 

 trasted strikingly with the Robin's greedy manners and his uncouth demands 

 for more worms. No less striking was the difference between the coral-pink 

 lining of Gretel's mouth and the yawning gulf of tawny yellow that opened 

 whenever the Robin saw the tweezers coming his way. His ancestors having 

 been brought up on soft worms and berries, he gulped everything down with- 

 out preliminaries. When hard-boiled egg was served, he showed a preference 

 for the white, she for the yolk, like Jack Sprat and his wife. It would be hard 

 to say which was fonder of raspberries and blackberries. 



For some days before they were liberated, they were given the freedom 

 of the room each day, for a while, spending most of the time among the plants 

 in the bay-window. The Robin was set free July 20, and Gretel on the day 

 following. A bit of aluminum wire was bent in the form of a ring around the 

 leg of each, for identification. For a number of days they stayed near the 

 house, letting themselves be taken in the hand, if tactfully approached. 



