Notes from Field and Study 



289 



food, and must at last have persuaded 

 his lady that he was the better guard for 

 the home when danger threatened, for 

 presently she flew away and within the 

 instant he took her place. 



A proof that they knew their friends 

 was given me that very night, for mounting 

 a stepladder with my usual evening gift, 

 my head was on a level with the nest and 

 less than two feet away as I proffered the 

 tin cup, this time in the palm of my hand, 

 to the bird at home, which, perching on 

 the edge of the nest, gave me a first glimpse 

 of three tiny open bills, for the babies were 

 there. But only food gathered by them- 

 selves was fed to the young. 



Daily watching and daily feeding my 

 tiny neighbors so endeared them to me 

 that I dreaded the time of parting, which 

 I knew could not be far off; nevertheless 

 I was surprised one morning to find the nest 

 empty, and even the chance to investigate 

 the interior of it in no degree compensated 

 for my loss, and I am afraid I was inclined 



to feel that the Vireos might have said 

 "Good-bye." 



I found that the lining was as soft as 

 down although woven of long slender 

 grasses with an under and over regularity 

 and evenness that is wonderful and rivals 

 human needlework. They are weavers and 

 tailors, too. 



The nest was not quite empty, for a 

 small, brown-spotted white egg remained 

 to reveal the fact of one disappointment to 

 the confiding little couple that I long to 

 welcome again, and to whom I have tried 

 to extend a cordial invitation by nailing 

 to the old apple tree a box in which I 

 keep a 'bird's luncheon.' — Inez Harring- 

 ton Whitfield, Hot Springs, Ark. 



A Railroad Robin 



One small bird has attracted more 

 attention on the line of the Harlem Rail- 

 road this summer than any of the beauty 

 spots between New York and Chatham. 



A ROBIN'S NEST ON A SIGNAL GATE. THE BIRD MAY BE SEEN ON HER NEST NEAR 



THE CENTER OF THE DISK 



