Home Life 



before why the alert, military-looking, red-breasted 

 robin of the spring becomes more and more faded 

 and dejected as summer advances, and the joyous 

 song of courting days diminishes until it ceases alto- 

 gether after the father has helped his mate raise two 

 broods. Yet with my utmost care I had probably 

 not done half for those fledglings that their parents 

 would have done. 



WHAT IT MEANS TO REAR A BROOD 



In a state of nature, what would a pair of robins 

 do for their family ? After the building of the 

 nest — of itself no small labor — there follow fourteen 

 long weary days and nights of confinement upon the 

 eggs before they hatch. Thenceforth on the average 

 of every fifteen minutes daily from dawn till dark 

 both parents visit the nest, usually bringing in their 

 bills food which they often travel far and work hard 

 to find — earthworms, grasshoppers, locusts, beetles, 

 the larvie of insects, choke cherries or other small 

 fruits to be crammed with sharp but painless thrusts 

 into the ever hungry mouths. The second an old 

 bird alights on the home branch, up spring the little 

 heads, every one agape, like Jacks-in-the-box. In 

 their loving zeal, the parents themselves often 

 forget to eat. After every feeding, the nest must 

 be inspected and cleaned, the excreta being either 

 swallowed or carried away. Then the fledglings are 

 picked over lest lice irritate their tender skins. Very 

 many young birds die from this common pest of the 

 nests, especially those whose cradles are lined with 

 chicken feathers, which are nearly always infested. 



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