FRIENDS IN FEATHERS 



by every right he should have been the first to leave the nest; 

 but he crouched down as if enjoying his first comfortable breath- 

 ing-space, and clung to the nest as if he could not move. His 

 crop and eyes were sunken, his beak and feet pale, his throat 

 anything but the bright, healthy colour it should have been. 

 Starvation was written all over him. There seemed to be noth- 

 ing of him but a little bunch of bones and abnormally developed 

 feathers. His plumage almost curled. 



The largest Cow-bird climbed to the edge of the nest and sat 

 there while the other stayed on the limb. I tenderly lifted the War- 

 bler and set him between them to contrast their size and repletion 

 with his condition. They never attempted to fly, but opened 

 wide beaks and raised cries for more food, tnough where they were 

 to put it one could not see. Bob said to them : " You little boog- 

 ers ! I know what you'd get if I were engineering this." I made 

 several exposures then carefully put the Warbler back into the nest, 

 where he remained all day, the Cow-birds staying in the same bush. 



Then came the baby Warbler's picnic. The old ones alighted 

 on the nest first when they came with food and if he were 

 ready he got a good share before the vociferous cries of the Cow- 

 birds called them away. The following day he had so improved 

 that he could move in the nest while the Cow-birds, fat and 

 sleepy-eyed, fle\v to a near-by walnut shrub, where I made a last 

 picture of them. Next day I could not find them and when I 

 remarked that they seemed young to have joined a flock of their 

 kind, Bob looked so peculiar that I lost no time searching. 



"Where do these things belong?" he asked as we gathered up 

 my paraphernalia from the latest trip. "Are they protected? " 



"They belong to the Blackbird family and they are," I an- 

 swered. "The law makes two classes, wild and game birds. 

 The section referring to unprotected birds reads : ' House Sparrows, 

 Crows, Hawks, and other birds of prey.'" 



274 



