76 Wild Birds 



dress in order. This done, there is often a pause of a few mo- 

 ments, as if in doubt whether to hunt more grasshoppers, to dig 

 angleworms in yonder cornfield, or to try the cherry trees along 

 the fence-row. They will take everything which their sharp 

 eyes discern, and often pick up an insect close to the nest. 



One Robin at the age of eleven days left the family circle 

 early on August i3th, and at nine o'clock the two which re- 

 mained were standing up and napping their wings. The old 

 birds would come near, displaying tempting morsels in their 

 bills, but with no intention of feeding their young so long as 

 they remained on the nest. By such tantalizing methods they 

 soon drew them away. Both old and young hung about the 

 apple trees for several days, when they disappeared and were 

 not seen again. 



At the stage of flight the young Robins have several distinct 

 call and alarm notes like those of the adult birds. They can 

 take short, low flights, can hop briskly, and go to cover in- 

 stinctively whether with or without warnings from their parents. 

 They will also lie quiet in the grass, as in hiding, a common 

 instinctive act. 



The second family of Robins nested high in an oak, and 

 whenever they were approached the old birds made an ad- 

 mirable show of pugnacity, scolding, screaming, erecting their 

 feathers, snapping their bills, and darting straight at your head. 

 Their nesting branch was taken from the woods to a bare, open 

 field, and set up sixty feet from the tree in the way already 

 described. The first morning's experience was rather dis- 

 couraging, for neither bird would come to its nest while the 

 tent was in front of it. They called plaintively from the trees, 

 and circled about the nesting bough again and again, but al- 

 ways kept at a distance. Accordingly, after feeding the young, 

 I decided to strike tent and wait until next day. There was a 

 heavy thunder storm in the afternoon, but when I visited the 

 nest towards evening I was pleased to find the young as lively 

 as ever, and the old birds on guard with their usual spirit and 

 tenacity unimpaired. 



The next morning they stormed vigorously about the tent 



