THE TIDE HAS TURNED 3861 
as they fly. The Scarlet Tanager and the Goldfinch both 
have plain greenish olive-coloured wives. The female 
Blue Jay is of a less bright hue than her mate, and the 
mate of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak wears a buff, brownish 
streaked vest. 
“Why? Because, as the mother bird spends more time 
about the nest than the father, if she wore bright clothes 
she would attract too much attention, and cruel Hawks, 
squirrels, and thieving people would find it too easily; 
and Nature’s first thought is always of the care and pro- 
tection of young life, whether of plant, bird, or beast. 
“Almost all oi our birds feed the young nestlings with 
animal food, even if they themselves are seed-eaters; 
for little birds must grow quickly, and you would hardly 
believe the number of worms and flying things it takes to 
turn one little Robin from the queer, helpless, featherless 
thing that it is when it hatches from the egg, into the 
clumsy, clamouring ball of feathers, with awkward wings 
and hardly a bit of tail to balance it, that it is when it 
leaves the nest. 
“No human father and mother work harder to feed their 
children than do these feathered parents, who toil cease- 
lessly from sunrise until sunset to bring food, and share 
by turns the protection of the nest. 
THE NEST 
When oaken woods with buds are pink, 
And new-come birds each morning sing, 
When fickle May on summer’s brink 
Pauses, and knows not which to fling, 
Whether fresh bud and bloom again, 
Or hoar-frost silvering hill and plain, 
