8 THE REDWING BABY. 



dently did, for one of them perched upon the 

 lilac, and filled the air with anxious " chucks," 

 announcing to all whom it might concern 

 after the fashion of some birds that here was 

 a stray infant to be had for the picking up. 

 Perhaps, however, the hue-and-cry kept off the 

 quiet-loving cat ; at any rate nothing happened 

 to him, I think, for in a day or two the three 

 young birds became so expert on wing that the 

 whole family left us, and I hope found a place 

 where they were more welcome than in that 

 colony of house and orchard birds. 



Not so quiet in their ways are the babies of 

 another blackbird family the redwings ; rest- 

 less and uneasy, the clumsy little creatures 

 climb all about the bushes and trees, and keep 

 both parents busy, not only in filling their gap- 

 ing mouths, but in finding them when the food 

 is brought. They are always seeking a new 

 place, and from the moment of leaving the nest 

 show in a marked way the unrest, the impa- 

 tience of the redwing family. 



Quite as erratic is a much smaller bird, the 

 yellow-throated warbler, whose baby ways I 

 have seen at the South. One of these bantlings 

 no bigger than the end of a thumb will easily 

 keep its parent frantically busy rushing about 

 after food, and hunting up the capricious wan- 

 derer on its return. 



