114 IN THE MIDDLE COUNTRY. 



beaks. They were not allowed on the grass, 

 and they waited patiently on the tree while 

 their provider shelled a kernel and took it up to 

 them. The cardinal baby I found to be a self- 

 respecting individual, who generally waits in 

 patience his parents' pleasure, though he is not 

 too often fed. He is not bumptious nor self- 

 assertive, like many others ; he rarely teases, 

 and is altogether a well-mannered and proper 

 young person. After a while, as the youngsters 

 learned strength and speed on the wing, they 

 came to the table with the grown-ups, and then 

 I saw there were three spruce young redbirds, 

 all under the care of their gorgeous papa. 



No sooner did they appear on the ground 

 than trouble began with the English-sparrow 

 tribe. The grievance of these birds was that 

 they could not manage the tough kernels. They 

 were just as hungry as anybody, and just as 

 well -disposed toward corn, but they had not 

 sufficient strength of beak to break it. They 

 did not, however, go without corn, for all that. 

 Their game was the not uncommon one of avail- 

 ing themselves of the labor of others ; they in- 

 vited themselves to everybody's breakfast-table, 

 though, to be sure, they had to watch their 

 chances in order to secure a morsel, and escape 

 the wrath of the owner thereof. 



The cardinal was at first a specially easy vie- 



