WELCOME THE COMING GUEST 



Rufus and Madame Jolie-Queue had so indus- 

 triously stocked the trees on the previous evening. 

 This stealthy performance continued for some 

 days, the squirrels unwittingly serving meals up- 

 stairs for the frightened grackles; but the birds' 

 confidence in me was finally restored, and this 

 year they were among the earliest of my spring 

 guests. 



I know that various charges are brought against 

 grackles (is anyone or anything free from as- 

 persions, I wonder?) the most serious, to my 

 way of thinking, being that they eat young birds 

 and eggs. Yet year after year robins and grackles 

 nest harmoniously in the same tree near my win- 

 dows, and I certainly have excellent opportunities 

 for observing both the dear red-breasts and the 

 black beauties. Only in one instance have I seen 

 what suggested an unpleasantness between a 

 grackle and some robins; and this was near the 

 large bird-baths of the grove, at some distance 

 from the homes in my tree. I have often specu- 

 lated as to the exact meaning of the occurrence. 



A grackle appeared at the bath, unmistakably 

 in the custody of two robins; one on each side. 

 Under their strict surveillance he was allowed to 

 bathe, the robins waiting at the brink of the basin 



[135] 



