THE BABY CLIMBED A TREE. 141 



i 



young jay on the ground, and the parents frantic 

 with anxiety. Naturally, my first impulse was 

 to go to their aid, and I started; but I was 

 saluted with a volley of squawks that warned 

 me not to interfere. I retired meekly, leaving 

 the birds to deal with the difficulty as they best 

 could, while from afar I watched the little fel- 

 low as he scrambled around in the grass. He 

 tried to fly, but could not rise more than two 

 feet. Both the elders were with him, but 

 seemed unable to help him, and night was com- 

 ing on. I resolved, finally, to " take my life in 

 my hands," brave those unreasoning parents, 

 and place the infant out of the way of cats and 

 boys. 



As I reached the doorstep I saw that the 

 youngster had begun to climb the trunk of a 

 locust-tree. I stood in amazement and saw that 

 baby climb six feet straight up the trunk. He 

 did it by flying a few inches, clinging to the 

 bark and resting, then flying a few inches more. 

 I watched, breathless, till he got nearly to the 

 lowest branch, when alas ! his strength or his 

 courage gave out, and he fell back to the 

 ground. But he pulled himself together, and 

 after a few minutes more of struggling through 

 the grass he came to the trunk of the maple 

 next his native pine. Up this he went in the 

 same way, till he reached a branch, where I saw 



