TRIALS OP A BIRD'S LIFE. 53 



long as tlie children are in the nest they seem 

 to be as indifferent as if there were no infants 

 within ten miles; but when the youngsters 

 have left the nest and are beginning to flit 

 about in the sa^^lings, their parents begin their 

 loud chirping as soon as you get within sight 

 of them. 



Among many birds this habit prevails. 

 You can almost always tell when Madam 

 Robin's bairns have taken wing and ventured 

 from the nest, for she proclaims the fact to the 

 entire community by her loud and nervous 

 chirping. Why she does not keep the secret 

 to herself is a problem. But the crow black- 

 birds, brown thrashers, and catbirds behave in 

 the same inconsistent way. 



The conduct of a pair of parent birds 

 when their children have been killed or kid- 

 napped is often very pitiful. They grieve for 

 days after the disaster, fluttering about and 

 calling in tones of distress, and sometimes even 

 gathering food for the missing brood, as if 

 they still hojDed to find them. 



But birds of different species, and even 

 those of the same species, act very differently 

 when their nestlings are approached. One 

 spring I visited the nest of a j)air of catbirds 

 quite frequently. Usually the catbirds are 



