THE BIRDS 119 



feet, he steadily pulls up the worm and is off to the 

 nest to feed his hungry babies. 



Robins eat many other worms and insects, but 

 they never catch them in the air or pick them from 

 the trees as do some of the other birds. They get 

 them all from the ground. 



Did you ever see a Baltimore oriole flashing his 

 gorgeous black and gold coat through the pink and 

 white mass of a blossoming apple tree, while he 

 pecked here and there and everywhere among the 

 blossoms to catch harmful, hiding insects, and sing- 

 ing his clear note as he went? He is feeding himself 

 then, because his nest is not finished in apple blos- 

 som time, but when the nest is ready and the baby 

 orioles are hatched, he is just as good a hunter. In- 

 deed, there are two hunters, then, for each nest, and 

 a hard time they have filling those hungry mouths. 



It is very fortunate for us that the baby birds are 

 so hungry, for they eat a great many of the cater- 

 pillars and insects just at the time when the leaves 

 are tender. If it were not for the birds the leaves 

 on many of our trees and plants would all be eaten. 

 Then the trees and plants would die. 



All the time the baby birds are in the nest the 

 father and mother birds watch over them with 

 loving care and devotion. They bring them food; 

 they keep the nest clean and dry, sheltering the 

 birdies with their own wings and bodies from the 

 cold and wet. If any of the little ones are too am- 

 bitious and try to get out of the nest before their 

 wings are ready for flying, father and mother have a 

 great deal to say about it. You can often hear them 



