THE OOLOGIST. 



A Vacation with the Birds 



For tlie past three of four years I 

 have been studying the ways of our 

 iiinls. JNly summer vacation^ and the 

 spare hours I chanced to have in spring 

 and fall were spent in trami)ino- over 

 the country surrounding the village 

 in which I lived. 



With spy-glass and note book, I havn 

 enjoyed many a day in some secluded 

 spot studying the habits of rare species; 

 for this reason I liave always looked 

 forward with pleasure to the time when 

 books could be laid aside and I would 

 be free thus to enjoy myself. 



The past summer, however, being 

 tied down to my books, most of my time 

 was spent in study in a rustic seat , 

 which was placed under an arbor form- 

 ed by a few fruit trees in the rear of our 

 village lot. Here I whiled away most 

 of tlie pleasant days, keeping an e^e 

 open, meanwhile, for any birds that 

 might chance to visit me. 



The very first day 1 was gix'eted by 

 that mimic, the Catbird. There were 

 two of them and as they made them- 

 selves very conspicuous I was led to bi^- 

 lieve a nest must l)e near the place. 

 Near a fence, which ran close by, was an 

 elder bush, in it I found a nest, rudely 

 constructed of sh'-c Is of l)ark, weed- 

 stalks, and dried li'.ivi^s. which contain 

 ed four young Catljirds. I could sel- 

 dom make a move while sitting in my 

 seat without the old thirds seeing nie; 

 on sncli occasions they would utter 

 their loudest cries, thinking perhaps, I 

 might in some way harm their brood. 

 The old, and I think the young, subsist- 

 ed at lirst on insectivorous fofxl, 

 but as the young were getting ready to 

 leave the nest, and for a period after 

 they had left it, small fruits formed 

 their principal food. The young left 

 the nest (me day in June, and what a 

 commotion the mother bird kept uj) 

 the while! It seemed as if she did all 

 she could to tell the old cat some dainty 

 morsels of food were to be had, for, sad 



to say, one youngster paid the price of 

 his mother's fooUsliness before I could 

 interfere. The other three birds re- 

 mained in the apple tree. They often 

 stiiid in one tree for hours, and were 

 fed continually by the old birds. They 

 grew strong fast and in a short time 

 could move around from limb to limb 

 wiih comparative ease, but every now 

 and then my eyes would be drawn from 

 my book by a queer llnttering and 

 chirping in the l)ranches overhead, tell- 

 ing plainly that a young bird had aimed 

 too high and missed its perch. 



As the young grew larger, it was 

 hard, sometimes, in the subdued light, 

 to distinguish the old from the young, 

 but, I do not think the young remained 

 long after the cherries were gone which 

 was about the 19th day of July. I saw 

 them occasionally, though, until the 

 fifth of August. 



A pair of W reus had a nest in a tin 

 can which had been fastened to one of 

 the largest limbs of a crab api)le tree. 

 During the lirst week of my staj' a 

 light ensued lietween them and a pair 

 of J^nglish S|)arrows. the latter coming 

 off victorious. 



The sparrows tore out part of the 

 old nest, as it nearly tilled the can, and 

 built a new one, but just as the young 

 were hatched tlu^y were killed by some 

 Bronzed Grackles. The Wrens, upon 

 being driven out. built a new nest in a 

 shed near by. They often visited me 

 under the trees, and at such times 

 would perch on the fence or a limb and 

 witii tail drooping and head raised they 

 would pour out the most melodious 

 music I have ever heard. When sing- 

 ing the m;ile would almo.'-t "bubble 

 over," it is a wonderful song for a bird 

 of ils size. 



Once in a while the cat would spend 

 an hour or two under the trees, but as 

 soon as the Wrens became aware of her 

 presence their music would be turned 

 into loud .scolding, which would last un- 

 til 1 removed the cause. 



