28 IN BIRD LAND. 
some workmen were erecting a new college building. 
In May a very fierce snow-storm came. One day 
the workmen noticed a half-dozen robins darting 
about the nest on which the hatching bird sat, flying 
at her with sharp cries, striking her with their wings, 
and making use of various other devices to dislodge 
her from the nest. They seemed to realize that she 
was in peril of her life through long inactivity and 
exposure to the cold. But their efforts were unsuc- 
cessful: she would not leave her nest; her eggs or 
young must have her care at whatever cost. How- 
ever, the poor bird paid dearly for her devotion. 
The next morning — the night had been very cold 
—the workmen found her dead upon the nest. 
My informant vouches for the truthfulness of the 
story, and says that he himself saw the faithful 
mother on the nest after she had been frozen stiff. 
On the twentieth of April I saw another robin 
sitting close on her nest, which was built on a 
horizontal branch of a willow-tree, not more than 
eight feet from the ground. The raw east wind 
lifted the feathers on her back, as if determined to 
creep through her thick clothing to the sensitive 
skin. <A few days earlier a blue jay was seen carry- 
ing lumber to her partly erected nursery in the 
crotch of an oak-tree. A pair of bluebirds, sigh- 
ing out their sorrows and joys, began building in 
one of my bird-boxes during the pleasant early April 
weather ; but when the cold spell came, they wisely 
suspended operations until the storms were overpast 
and they could proceed with safety. A killdeer 
