BIRD INTIMACIES 



one was perched on a branch, and before ni;;lit, 

 when no one was looking, they both disappeared, 

 leaving two motionless birds in the nest. The 

 next morning early, without any signs of alarm 

 or agitation on the part of the old birds, they took 

 V the important step. It could hardly have been 

 much of a flight with any of them, as their wing- 

 quills were only partially developed, and their tails 

 were mere stubs. For several days afterward no 

 sign or sound of old or young was seen or heard. 

 They were probably keeping well concealed in the 

 near-by trees or in the vines and currant-bushes in 

 the vineyard. In about a week the whole family 

 appeared briefly in upper branches of the maples 

 near the house. The young were distinguishable 

 from the old only by their shorter tails. A few 

 days later the parent birds were seen moving 

 stealthily through the vines and bushes about the 

 house, or perching on the near-by stakes that sup- 

 ported the wire netting. Are they coming back 

 for a second brood.? was the question in our minds. 

 Soon we began to hear snatches of song from the 

 male, then one morning a regular old-time burst of 

 joy from him in the vine that held the old nest. 

 Then he sang in a syringa-bush near the window 

 on the south side of the cottage, and both birds 

 were soon seen paying frequent visits to the bush. 

 We felt sure another brood was in the air. Whether 

 or not the first brood were now shifting for thcm- 



63 



