v %f] General Notes. 257 



I kept crumbs scattered about tbe balcony, which both birds ate, and 

 then put them on my outstretched hand, and accustomed her to seeing 

 that, held first from the doorway, and daily nearer to the nest, till at last 

 I could hold it close beside her, and she would venture to take a crumb or 

 two. And then one day, out came the tiny creature on to my hand ! 

 She did so frequently after that, and was also quite ready to take the 

 crumbs from between my lips, while she sat upon the nest, and would let 

 me stroke and cover her with my hand. But after the eggs were hatched, 

 of which there were only two, she was not so tame. 



During all this time the male bird never became very familiar, only 

 hovering occasionally about the nest while I was near, and eating the 

 crumbs from the balcony. 



I anticipated when the young birds flew having the whole family return 

 daily to at least breakfast there, but a week passed without my being able 

 to identify one of them, though I made advances to every 'Chipping-bird' 

 I came upon, hoping to receive some sign of recognition. 



At the end of that time we had a succession of rainy days, and in one 

 of them hearing a chattering going on outside m_y door, I looked out, and 

 n the balcony, in the pouring rain, sat side by side two fat ragged young 

 Chippies, while the mother bird went busily from one to the other, feeding 

 them with dry crumbs, which were not three feet away in the shelter of 

 the door, where they could easily have helped themselves. 



That was the last I ever saw of them. But the nest remained and was 

 still there the following February. There had been warm days which 

 brought a few Bluebirds, but then followed a snow and ice storm which 

 kept the trees and shrubs coated with ice for several days. We had watched 

 a small flock of Bluebirds, in apparent distress, hovering about the house 

 on one of the coldest of these days, and as night came on a number of 

 them tried to find shelter under the eaves of my studio door, but flew away 

 again. Just at sunset, however, one of them came back, and flew straight 

 into the deserted nest! I watched until dark and he was still there, and I 

 concluded that he spent the night. 



Last spring we noted an interesting instance of devotion in a mother 

 bird to her young. A Least Flycatcher built its nest in a half dead apple 

 tree in our dooryard. We had a very hot day when the birds were onlv a 

 few days old, and there being no leaves to shelter them, they evidently 

 suffered from the heat, their heads hanging from the nest. We noticed 

 later that the mother bird had taken a position just above them, and with 

 outstretched wings was trying to shield them from the sun. She remained 

 there for fully two hours, not even leaving them to bring food. When 

 we saw that she also was panting with the heat, we decided to come to 

 the rescue, and hoisted with a rake a grain bag over the nest for an 

 awning. Immediately the male bird appeared, and both of them seemed 

 to understand that all was well, and went busily to work catching insects 

 for the young birds, who rapidly revived. — Amelia M. Watson, Rast 

 Windsor Hill, Ct. 



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