140 A SWALLOW-WOOING 



Nothing is more charming to me than to 

 watch them from the egg up, and see their 

 pretty baby-ways. They are not all made on 

 the same pattern. The robin baby is a mas- 

 terful fellow, demanding to be fed and com- 

 forted, while the Baltimore oriole baby cries 

 constantly in a hopeless, lost sort of a way 

 for days after it has left the nest. The blue- 

 bird baby is a darling, with a little speckled 

 bib and the sweetest of voices ; the catbird 

 baby is graceful and shy, but not a bit afraid 

 of one ; the redwing baby is fussy and rest- 

 less, never staying two minutes in a place, 

 while the wood-thrush baby will sit in one 

 spot for an hour, waiting with thrash pa- 

 tience for breakfast ; the cedar-bird baby is 

 gentle and confiding, without fear of his hu- 

 man neighbors, and the young song-sparrow 

 chirps like an insect for hours together. The 

 droll little nuthatch mamma leads her young 

 folk around in a flock as a hen does her 

 chickens, and a busy time she has stuffing 

 the hungry little mouths. Drollest of all are 

 warbler babies, not much bigger than a wal- 

 nut, yet restless and uneasy with the true 

 warbler spirit. They seldom stay two seconds 



