on five little ivaxwings and how they grew.



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though I venture to say that never before did young waxwings

grow up on such a diet.


One little fellow, smaller and weaker than the rest, handi¬

capped from the first, gave up his life on the second day. The other

four grew and waxed strong and beautiful ; grew, oh, so rapidly !

taking on from day to day the exquisite colouring which so beauti¬

fully marks the adult bird.


How much did we feed them ? some one may ask. There

need be no mistake on this point. I put the food in and pushed it

down until they were full—until I could see it. A pretty habit of

theirs was, when full, to pass the proffered morsel to a next neigh¬

bour, a bit of politeness characteristic of this gentle and interesting

bird.


To keep my little pets from straying and becoming a prey to

prowling cats, I made of chicken-wire a cage on the lawn, and rigged

perches in it on which they would snuggle up to each other in the

most affectionate way.


At night I took them into the house, in a little wicker

basket, for safe keeping, putting them out each morning.


From the first, they showed a most remarkable absence of

fear, and not the slightest aversion to being handled.


About two weeks of faithful feeding and care, I began to wish

that my birds could help themselves, so that I might feel justified in

giving them their freedom.


But it is a trait of young birds not to feed themselves as

long as somebody else will do it for them, so that it was not until

July 31, sixteen days from the day they came, that I brought myself

to the point of letting them go.


After breakfast that morning, I took their basket up into the

berry patch, where they could find plenty of food, and not without

considerable reluctance, gave them up to Nature’s keeping. They

showed no special delight at being free. They flew about the berry

bushes and up into the pine trees, occasionally returning to perch

upon my arm or shoulder, and I soon found it was not so easy to

turn off foster children. If I was ready to let them go, they were

by no means ready to give me up.


About this time I was doing some rustic work a short distance



