I 



BIED ALTEUISM AND FAMILY LIFE 



A BIRD'S DEVOTION 



THERE have been a pair of Chinese geese on the lake here 

 for several years. Last Friday they did not come to be fed 

 with the ducks as usual. Finding them by themselves 

 later in the day, I took them some food. On Saturday 

 they did not appear at all. On Sunday I found that the 

 goose was dead, and was lying by the side of the water in 

 a distant part of the lake. The gander was sitting by her 

 side guarding her corpse. He tried to drive me away, and 

 would not let me approach even when I took him some 

 food. Perhaps this devotion of a bird to his dead spouse 

 may interest some of your bird-loving readers. 



E. HOLDEN. 



STORGE 



A neighbour of mine has a two- wheeled cart, with the 

 usual box in front over the shafts, covered with a lid. In 

 this box a pair of torn-tits have built their nest, and six 

 eggs are the result. The owner goes his regular journeys, 

 and the dam sits tight and makes the best of disturbed 

 incubation. She is quite tame, and allows my neighbour's 

 children to stroke her as she sits. We are all wondering 

 whether the eggs will hatch out. 



T. E. F. 



June 11, 1910. 



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