BEHIND THE BARS 287 
Louisa’s admiration for the Cardinal was marked; but 
for some days he took little notice of her, and his friends 
began to fear that their second attempt at match-making 
would prove a failure. April 30, however, some respon- 
sive interest was shown, and the next day Louis brought 
to the cage a brown bug, half an inch long, and gave Louisa 
his first meat-offering. 
The second wooing progressed rapidly, and May 7, when 
Louisa was set free, the pair flew away together with un- 
restrained delight. After three days of liberty, Louisa 
flew back to the house with her mate, and thenceforth was 
a frequent visitor. 
May 21, Louisa was seen carrying straws, and on June 6 
her nest was discovered low down in a dense evergreen 
thorn. Four speckled eggs lay in the nest. These were 
hatched June 9, the parent birds, meantime and afterward, 
going regularly to market, and keeping up social relations 
with their friends. 
In nine days after their exit from the shell, the little 
Cardinals left the nest and faced life’s sterner realities. 
A black cat was their worst foe, and more than once, 
during their youth, Louis flew to his devoted commissary 
and made known his anxiety. Each time, on following 
him to the nest, she found the black prowler, or one of his 
kind, watching for prey. On June 28, the black cat out- 
witted the allied forces, Sefior Cardinal and his friends, 
and a little one was slain. The other three grew up, and 
enjoyed all the privileges of their parents, flying in at 
the window, and frequenting the bountiful porch. 
July 25, Louisa disappeared from the scene, presumably 
on a southern trip, leaving the Cardinal sole protector, 
