BIRDS OF BROADLAND AND STREAMSIDE. 201 



the male and female, and carried out with such 

 devotion and affectionate tenderness as would 

 have won the admiration of the most matter- 

 of-fact student. 



They fed their chicks with commendable 

 assiduity for half an hour, at the end of which 

 time the hen sat down on the nest and covered 

 them. In a few minutes her mate arrived with 

 a splendid collection of small green aphidae, such 

 as infest rose-bushes, and she got up and stood 

 admiringly on one side whilst he dropped the 

 food with great impartiality down the little 

 yellow lanes presented for its reception. After 

 gazing fondly at his offspring for a moment or 

 two, he hied away in search of more viands, and 

 returned with his bill almost hidden by the legs 

 and wings of a bundle of flies. This time the 

 female sat stock still, and opened her mouth, 

 evidently knowing that the food had been brought 

 for her. 



Time after time they changed places, and 

 took turn and turn about at brooding and insect- 

 hunting. I noticed that the cock sat higher 

 and uneasier in the nest than the hen. He 

 frequently rose to take an admiring look at his 

 sons and daughters. Once, when both parent 

 birds were at work searching, the feeding waxed 

 so fast and furious that the chicks became sati- 

 ated to the point of refusal a thing which does 



