The Audubon Societies 



249 



and feeding on the ground. One afternoon, when several of us were seated 

 on the porch, I let my bird out, and he exhibited his capacity for flies. He 

 ate dozens and dozens, one after another, as I killed or maimed them 

 for him. 



After he began to fly to the ground mornings, before coming to my win- 

 dow, I grew much alarmed for his safety, and decided he must be put out of 

 the reach of cats until he learned the wild ways of his fellows. So, one 

 morning, I put him in the canary-cage and drove several miles to a mountain 

 stream. Here elderberries grew thickly and the air was full of insects. I 

 watched my little friend, of whom I had grown very fond. He soon became 

 oblivious of me and began to feast on the berries. Had I left him about the 

 yard, he would probably have shared the pitiful fate of the little Grosbeak. — 

 Mary Pierson Allen, Hackeltstown, N. J . 



[The Grosbeak referred to is the one described in Bird-Lore, Vol. XIII, No. 6, p. 318, 

 under the title of 'Some Experiences with a Bird Nursery.' The happier fate of 'Pete' 

 suggests the wisdom of training birds reared by hand for life in the open. However, 

 there are many enemies besides cats, as well as many dangers which threaten the life 

 of any bird, whether captive or free. To study more closely into all the conditions 

 which make for the health and safety of birds, and particularly of immature birds, is 

 the problem of the human foster-parent. — A. H. W.j 



