20 IN BIRD-LAND 



A tragedy occurred to a family of Garden- 

 Warblers last spring. They had, as usual, built in 

 a gooseberry bush ; the five eggs were laid, they 

 were successfully hatched, and the young birds 

 became clothed in feathers. One Sunday morning 

 the mother, while chasing an insect among the 

 thorns of the trees, had one of these pierce her 

 throat. This faithful little parent just managed to 

 get back to her nest to give her young the food 

 collected at the cost of life, and then she fell dead 

 and lay on the gooseberry branches beneath. Here 

 she w,as discovered, with her mate calling plain- 

 tively from above in an apple tree. The little 

 corpse was taken away and buried under some dry 

 grass. While watching the nest from a spot a^short 

 distance away, it was seen that the male was con- 

 tinuing to feed the young, although every now and 

 then calling tack, tack, for the mother which would 

 never again return. I went to the nest some days 

 later and was very pleased to see the young birds 

 looking quite plump and healthy, and sitting just 

 outside the nest Their father still continued to 

 feed them, bringing food about every three minutes, 

 occasionally mounting to the tree above and sing- 

 ing loudly for a few moments as if highly satisfied 

 with his thriving family. 



I was told by a friend that he knew of a case of 



