98 



THE OOLOGIST. 



A pair of Robins had a nest in an 

 e'ei'green tree a few rods from my seat 

 and the young, which were leaving the 

 nest when I discovered them, gave me 

 a great deal of amusement for a few 

 •weeks. Like the Catbirds, the3'^ were 

 awkward when learning to fly: and of- 

 ten tumbled nearly from the top to tlie 

 bottom of a tree before they could gain 

 a perch, onlj- being saved from injury 

 by the dense foilage. They, the same 

 as the Catbii'ds, had trouble with the 

 house cat. but none, a; far as I know, 

 were caught by her. 



The young 'ere fed with worms 

 from the garden, soon taking to cher- 

 ries, however. Early in the morning 

 and at sunset the old birds would sing 

 me their finest strains, but after the 

 first week or two it was only in snatch- 

 es as it was getting very warm, they 

 were ragged in appearance, and the 

 young took a good deal of their time. 

 I often heard the young at four o'clock 

 in the morning and as late as eight 

 o'clock in the evening, but as their 

 wings grew in sti'ength I would see less 

 and less of them. 



After the middle of July, I seldom 

 saw them, but I thing on the 8th of 

 August the entire brood paid me a 

 visit, thougli I am not certain whether 

 it was the same one or not. 



The second day under the trees I 

 noticed, while looking up di'eamingly 

 from my book, a nest placed in a crotch 

 in the very top-most branch of one of 

 the apple trees. On investigation, it 

 proved to lie a nest of that little beautj' 

 the Yellow Warliler. 



It was a gem of bird architecture l)e- 

 ing composcfl almost entirely of gray 

 hem))en liin-es, with a soft lining of wil- 

 low and thistle down. It contained a 

 full complement of eggs, but they had 

 been incubated for a time, , because a 

 week later young birds were heard in 

 the nest. The old birds were generally 

 quiet, only uttering at times short 

 whistle-like notes. Most of their food 



was obtained near by and they were- 

 always conspicuous when moving about 

 in the branches on account of the coloi-- 

 of their plumage. When being fed, the 

 young drew my attentiom by theii^ 

 chirping. 



Not hearing them one day, I took iv 

 peep into the nest and saw the sole oc- 

 cupant of the nest was a Cowbird. My 

 suspicion was aroused and on looking 

 under the tree I found the dead birds. 

 1 was tempted to throw the Cowl)ird 

 out at the time, but a day or two later 

 he had justice meted out to him, Avhen 

 he furnished a meal for a flock of 

 Bronzed Grackles. The Grackles tried 

 to take the young Robins and Catbirds 

 away before this, but the old birds 

 fought so bravely they were forced to 

 beat a hasty retreat each time. The 

 Grackles, in their noisy manner, moles- 

 ted the birds in the arbor not a little* 

 visiting it often in flocks of ten or 

 twelve. After the 4th of July I seldom 

 saw them, probably because the young 

 birds had flown. 



So far, most all of the events I have 

 recorded happened during the months 

 of June and Juh"; by August all of the 

 birds, young and old, had left for parts 

 unknown, most likelj^ for cooler re- 

 treats in the country and I only re- 

 ceived occasional visits from them. 



On the 3d of August, however, I 

 received a visit from two Black- billed 

 Cuckoos. It Avas only by chance that 1 

 saw them at all. Their coat is a bi'own 

 color, and as they were very still while 

 in the trees it was almost impossible to 

 catch sight of them from where I sat. 

 Only once in the four daj'S they staid 

 among the trees did I hear their low 

 notes. 



At flrst I was at a loss to know what 

 should attract these birds to my arbor, 

 but on the last day I solved the riddle. 

 A nest of canker worms had been play- 

 ing havoc with one of our cherry trees 

 and these birds liad been liaving a feast 

 on them. 



