The Robin at Arm's Length 77 



and the male even came to the nest while I was standing near. 

 After closing the tent I was under the cross-fire of their wrath 

 for seven or eight minutes, when the alarm calls suddenly 

 ceased, and in two minutes more the mother was on the nesting 

 bough. The female actually came to the nest or to the branch 

 which held it eight times in succession, in the space of twelve 

 minutes, with insect ready but without delivering it. Matters 

 did not altogether please her yet, and with a shrill seet ! seet ! 

 away she would go, but only to return a half minute later. 

 Finally she came boldly to the nest's brim, uttered a sound like 

 cuck! cuck! which means "Open wide!" and produced a number 

 of sturdy-looking grasshoppers. Two minutes later the mother 

 came again, and after feeding the young, picked them all over, 

 spending a minute and a half in the duties of inspecting and 

 cleaning. It was a hard task to conquer these birds, but they 

 had to submit to the inevitable, and I have no doubt but a few 

 days more would have brought them to the hand. 



The greater strength of parental instinct in the mother was 

 well illustrated by the behavior of these Robins. The female 

 was always first at the nest, and came at forty minutes after 

 nine o'clock on the second day. The male, though constantly 

 skirmishing about with bill loaded, was not on the branch with 

 food until two hours and ten minutes later. Meantime the 

 mother had been giving the young her constant attention. The 

 cock, though at the nest or on the bough several times, did not 

 actually have the courage to feed his little ones until long past 

 noon. In the performance of this duty he was three hours and 

 four minutes behind his mate. 



When the male did come at last and deliver food, he gave 

 the nest a good cleaning, and flew off to a corn patch a hundred 

 yards away. In thirteen minutes, during which interval the 

 female had brought grasshoppers twice, the male returned 

 triumphantly with a great cluster of writhing angleworms. 

 After safely dispensing them, he went the rounds of inspection, 

 devoured the excreta, then stood for a full minute on the rim of 

 his nest and with crest erect called, wit! wit! wit! as if to cele- 

 brate a victory and announce his bravery to the world. Now 



