58 Bird - Lore 



step to secure the last grain. Then with an air of bravery which was funny to 

 see he flew to the fence, settled his plumage and jeered at the timid ones in the 

 tree. 



From that time Nellie placed his bread on the porch railing. For a day or 

 two he was afraid to venture so near, as the rail was just below the window, 

 then began to come very early in the morning, gobbled the crumbs and fled. 



One evening Nellie forgot her pet until morning. During the night about two 

 inches of snow had fallen. When she looked out and thought of Sammy she 

 decided to wait and see what he would do. Soon he flew dowTi and began tossing 

 away the snow with his bill. Faster and faster he flirted but no crumbs 

 appeared. When the bare railing showed and Sammy knew that he was forgot- 

 ten, he was angry. He began to scold. The more he scolded the more 

 angry he became. He fairly quivered as he sat and squawked. 



Nellie laughed but resolved that he should soon have his breakfast. 



Nellie thought Sammy a very wise bird, don't you? — Esther L. Rosen- 

 BERGER, San Carlos, Ariz. 



[Nellie's experience in enticing the timid Blue Jays to the window shows how even 

 the wariest birds will finally respond to kindness and lose a large measure of their fear. — 

 A. A. A.] 



A ROBIN'S NEST AND FAMILY 



This Robin's nest, we observed, was in the fork of a white oak tree about 

 40 feet from the ground and was made of grass and mud. We began our observa- 

 tions when the young were about sLx or seven days old, on August 3, and kept 

 a one-hour's feeding record for three days. The first day, August 3, they were 

 fed eight times in the hour that we watched, the male feeding five times and the 

 female three. Owing to the extreme height of the nest we were never able to see 

 very well the kind of food but the few times that we did see, it was usually 

 grubs. On August 5, when the young were eight days old, we made our next 

 observation. This time, also, they were fed eight times in the hour, only the 

 male and female each fed an equal number of times. On August 6, we made our 

 last observation. Only seven feedings were made, five by the male and two by the 

 female. Feedings usually lasted about one or one and a half minutes and often 

 came immediately following each other but sometimes five or even ten minutes 

 elapsed between feedings. In chilly weather one would feed and then remain on 

 the nest until the other came in order to keep the young birds warm. Only once 

 did we see any ncst-cleaning, then the female went to the nest to feed and then 

 went away with some small white thing in her bill. We did not see her drop it. 

 Perhaps nest-cleaning was done later in the day. Two days later the young had 

 flown and we were denied the especial pleasure of seeing them leave the nest. — 

 CoRisTELiA DoziER (age, 15 years). 



[This is the way to become reall)' familiar with a bird by watching it at its nest and 

 making careful notes of all that transpires. — A. A. A.J 



