204 HAPS IN THE FIELD 



the cradle. The day they appeared on the 

 branches of the apple-tree there came up a 

 sudden shower. Three of the four newly 

 emancipated began to shake and plume them- 

 selves, one of them indeed so frantically that 

 he nearly lost his hold of the branch time 

 and again. Two worked with vigor, but less 

 violence ; but the fourth sat there like a vet- 

 eran without stirring a feather. This one 

 always sat a little apart from the other three, 

 who crowded together as I have seen young 

 kingbirds before. 



At another time, in another place, I was 

 much interested in an exhibition of king- 

 bird character. It was during a severe north- 

 east storm which lasted six days. There were 

 two days of strong, damp wind with heavy 

 clouds, followed by three days' steady cold 

 rain, and another of wind. I noticed the 

 kingbirds on the first day of the rain. There 

 was a little party of them nine or ten 

 and they had possession of a chestnut-tree 

 and a willow beside it, both trees much 

 larger than any other in the vicinity. On 

 these two trees they spent the day, often 

 without moving for an hour at a time, sitting 



