42 BIRD LIFE IN AN OLD APPLE-TREE 



more of the pair, and feared they had deserted the 

 spot. But they had not; they were only more sly 

 than usual. I soon discovered an egg in the nest, 

 and then another and another. 



One day, as I stood near by, a male bluebird came 

 along with his mate, prospecting for a spot for a 

 second nest. He alighted at the entrance of this 

 hole and peeped in. Instantly the flycatcher was 

 upon him. The blue was enveloped by the butter- 

 nut brown. The two fell to the ground, where the 

 bluebird got away, and in a moment more came 

 back and looked in the hole again, as much as 

 to say, " I will look into that hole now at all haz- 

 ards." The barbarian made a dash for him again, 

 but he was now on his guard and avoided her. 



Not long after, the bluebirds decided to occupy 

 the old cavity of the downy woodpecker from which 

 I had earlier in the season expelled the English 

 sparrows. After they had established themselves 

 here, a kind of border war broke out between the 

 male bluebird and the flycatchers, and was kept up 

 for weeks. The bluebird is very jealous and very 

 bold. He will not even tolerate a house wren in 

 the vicinity of his nest. Every bird that builds in 

 a cavity he looks upon as his natural rival and en- 

 emy. The flycatchers did not seek any quarrel with 

 him as long as he kept to his own domicile, but he 

 could not tolerate them in the same tree. It was a 

 pretty sight to see this little blue-coat charging the 



