NESTLINGS OF FOREST AND MARSH 
she sat still, but the instant I glanced away 
she was gone. So I troubled her as seldom 
as possible, wishing to study her natural 
family life, not one rendered strange by fear, 
and when the babies were out, I had my 
reward. 
So far as I could see, they looked just like 
other young catbirds, but the parents saw 
a wide difference. The male often stood 
at the nest looking down upon them with 
undisguised admiration, thereby evoking an 
impatient chuck from the more practical 
mother bird. What she wanted for those 
little ones was food, not adulation; their 
mouths were open, some one must hunt, 
and for her part it was enough to have 
brought such wonderful creatures out of 
the shells. Yet she took her fair share of 
the labor, searching under the leaves and 
in the crotches for insects while her spouse 
brought caterpillars. It seemed to me there 
were fewer earthworms and more ants and 
spiders in the catbird menu than is usual 
with soft-billed birds. There were no ber- 
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