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Bird -Lore 



head and wings. It was never any trouble 

 to catch it anywhere in the room. 



It was admired by all who came to my 

 office, and all seemed surprised that I 

 should be able to catch it so easily. 



I had it photographed, because the 

 Natural History that I have says that 

 they never take food except on the wing, 

 and this one, as well as the first one that 

 I had, would eat while sitting, as dozens 

 of people have seen, as well as the photo- 

 graph will show; so that will dispel one 

 more fallacy that is generally believed. 



I turned him loose one bright warm 

 morning about ten o'clock, and he started 

 south for his winter home, which I trust 

 he reached. — Dr. A. E. MacGalliard, 

 Granite City, III. 



The Wren's Coming-out Party 



This year we had the pleasure of watch- 

 ing the nestling birds come out from our 

 Wren-house. Each year we had planned 

 to be on hand, but some way they were 

 always out and on the ground before we 

 knew of it. 



For three summers the Wrens have 

 raised their broods in this little house, 

 which is made of a cigar-box, with a hole 

 of regulation size, and placed on an eight- 

 foot pole. This makes an ideal place, the old 

 birds think — high enough up and with no 

 tree branches near from which a cat could 

 spring. But the little birds consider it a 

 pretty wide world in which to venture 

 forth. 



One day we discovered one of the young 

 birds half-way out of the hole, looking all 

 about, first up, and then down at the tiny 

 platform. When the old bird came with a 

 bug, she would push him back, apparently 

 thinking that he was too young yet to try 

 to make his own living. All day long they 

 kept this up, sometimes two of them at the 

 hole, looking every minute as if they were 

 coming down. We were sure that by the 

 next morning they would be out on the 

 ground, and all our watching would have 

 been in vain. But no, here they were peep- 

 ing out again. The old bird would go in 

 \vitb a bug, and then come out with it and 



sit on a tree nearby, giving little chirping 

 calls to them. If they didn't come out, she 

 would take the bug in to them and fly off 

 in search of another. 



This day, after she had gone, one of the 

 little birds cautiously stuck out his head, 

 then his whole body, clung by his feet for a 

 second and climbed back in again. All was 

 quiet now for a time, when suddenly out 

 the little bird came, lit on the platform, 

 then, with a mighty courage, fluttered and 

 half flew to a low tree nearby. 



We had not more than caught our breath 

 before out popped another head, recon- 

 noitred a little, and flew down as far as the 

 middle of the pole, where he clung fran- 

 tically for a bit. It was too far to go back, 

 and there was nothing for it but to drop 

 into the cold world below. 



Trouble had now begun for the old birds. 

 They flew from one to another feeding and 

 coaxing them into safe places, and every 

 now and then back to the house again with 

 a bug, so we knew there must be more to 

 follow. 



After a least half an hour, a little fellow, 

 smaller, if anything, than the other birds, 

 with absurd fluffy feathers sticking out 

 from the sides of his head, half fell and 

 half flew to the ground below. He blun- 

 dered along through the tall grass, strik- 

 ing a cobweb big enough to block his way, 

 and made for the side of the yard opposite 

 from the others. As far as we could see, he 

 kept on running, but somehow the old bird 

 rounded them all at last into a bush, and 

 such a time as they had clinging to the 

 branches, their little feet straddling about 

 from one twig to another. There they 

 stuck awkwardly while the Sparrows and 

 other birds came to inspect them, — such 

 funny little birds with scarcely any tails 

 to speak of. 



No one seemed particularly to welcome 

 the new-comers, and by night they had all 

 disappeared. They were towed around by 

 the tired mother to some other yard prob- 

 ably, forgetting all about our hospitality. 

 The old birds, though, had more than 

 repaid us through the summer with their 

 cheery, busy little songs, and next year we 

 plan to make things a bit more comfortable 



