A L I N E A I) A Y 



large mouths to fill. It was a constant amazement to me, this 

 seeing a nestling split in two, as it were, when the mother arrived 

 with food. 



June 16 1 watched a yellow-billed cuckoo feeding her three 

 fuzzy little ones this morning. What a rickety, tumble-down 

 nest ! It was only four feet from the ground in a honeysuckle bush 

 at the edge of the lawn. I saw a cuckoo in May and heard her 

 curious call. There are plenty of tent-caterpillars about to tempt 

 her to stay with us. 



July 2 The humming-bird family down by the greenhouse 

 are almost ready to fly. In fact, the little ones seem the same size 

 as their parents, except that their bills are shorter. It has been 

 most entertaining to watch them. The mother did not mind the 

 hammering and sawing or the constant presence of workmen within 

 thirty feet of her nest. To be sure, she was on a maple branch 

 twenty feet from the ground, and admitted no nearer acquaintance, 

 as the Constant Improver found to his cost when he climbed a 

 ladder to get a closer view; she darted at him viciously, and he 

 retreated before she could strike. We took our camp-stools and 

 glasses and watched the tireless industry of this wee creature. 

 What is she bringing now ? Surely not one of those hideous 

 seventeen-year locusts almost as big as herself! It is the locust! 

 She dashes him against the branch until he has become pulp-like, 

 then tears him to pieces and stuffs incredibly large mouthfuls down 

 the baby's throat. 



221 



