124 



Bird -Lore 



GOING HOME 

 Photographed by W . R. Boulton, Jr. 



her head to one side, and seemed to say, "What is this that cUcks in my face," 

 and then she hopped all over it, pecking it. 



Both parents were often seen cleaning the nest. They began to feed the 

 young at about eight o'clock every morning, and continued it steadily at an 



average of every six 

 or seven minutes 

 until about six at 

 night, using as food 

 almost exclusively a 

 certain kind of bug 

 that was very hairy, 

 brownish with black 

 markings, and, ex- 

 cept for the hair, 

 might have been mis- 

 taken for castor 

 beans, being about 

 the same size. They 

 seemed a huge 

 mouthful for a young 

 Bluebird. Several times a day I would climb up to the nest and whistle softly 

 like a Bluebird before the aperture. The young would crane their necks and 

 stretch their mouths for the supposed food, although none was forthcoming. 

 When the young flew from the nest, I felt as though I had lost a family. 

 My grief was not such that I could not capture them, however, and after 

 counting noses, I found that one was missing. I climbed up and there I found 

 'runtie' at the bottom of the nest, pitifully squeaking at being left alone. I 

 took out the bottom and extracted him. Finally, after half an hour or more 

 of posing, I got sev- 

 eral good pictures of 'M^ '"^^*'^*^^hpm<*'^M^^^& Vi 

 the babies on a dead m^ ... ^. T mlMi^^m / % 

 branch. When I 

 opened the nest-log 

 to clean it, I found 

 a little block of 

 grasses about three 

 inches in diameter 

 and one inch high. 

 It fairly glistened 

 with shed feather- 

 sheaths. In the bot- 

 tom were six or seven 



LEAVING HOME 

 bugs, 01 the species Photographed by W. R. Boulton, Jr. 



