116 IN THE MIDDLE COUNTRY. 



run (or fly), leaving the baby astonished and 

 dazed, looking as if he did not know exactly 

 what had happened, but sure he was in some 

 way bereaved. 



One day, while the cardinal family were eat- 

 ing on the grass, the mother of the brood came 

 to a tree near by. At once her gallant spouse 

 flew up there and offered her the mouthful he 

 had just prepared, then returned to his duties. 

 She was rarely seen on the lawn, and I judged 

 that she was sitting again. 



Sometimes, when the youngsters were alone 

 on the ground, I heard a little snatch of song, 

 two or three notes, a musical word or two of 

 very sweet quality. The woodpecker, autocrat 

 though he assumed to be, did not at first inter- 

 fere with the young birds ; but as they became 

 more and more independent and grown up, he 

 began to consider them fair game, and to come 

 down on them with a rush that scattered them ; 

 not far, however ; they were brave little fellows. 



At last, after four weeks of close attention, 

 the cardinal made up his mind that his young 

 folk were babies no longer, and that they were 

 able to feed themselves. I was interested to see 

 his manner of intimating to his young hopefuls 

 that they had reached their majority. When 

 one begged of him, in his gentle way, the parent 

 turned suddenly and gave him a slight push. 



