n 



or a hawk ? It is possible ; and this is an easy and 

 kindly way to think of him. Nor is it impossible that 

 he may have remained as leader and protector to the 

 first brood, or (perish the thought !) might he per- 

 haps have grown weary at sight of the second lot 

 of five eggs, of the long days and the neglect that 

 they meant for him, and out of jealousy and fickle- 

 ness wickedly deserted ? 



I hope it was death, a stainless, even ignominious 

 death by one of my neighbor's dozen cats. 



Death or desertion, it involved a second tragedy. 

 Five such young ones at this time were too many 

 for the mother. She fought nobly ; no mother could 

 have done more. All five were brought within a few 

 days of flight ; then, one day, I saw a little wing 

 hanging listlessly over the side of the nest. I went 

 closer. One had died. It had starved to death. 

 There were none of the parasites in the nest that 

 often kill these birds. It was a plain case of sacri- 

 fice, by the mother, perhaps ; by the other young, 

 maybe, one for the other four. 



But she did well. Nine such young birds to her 

 credit since April. Who shall measure her actual use 

 to the world ? How does she compare in value with 



