\ 
58 THE Otrawa NATURALIST. [May 
could easily be seen. Perhaps this one too had suffered some mis- 
fortune at her first nesting place, because this was certainly too 
Jate to be her first attempt. I found this bird off her eggs the first 
time on July 4th at 8 o’clock p.m., but she soon came after I had 
come near the eggs. The male also flitted around me, noiselessly, 
like a huge moth. In the greatest heat at mid-day, when the 
gravel and tarred platform about her exhaled still more heat, this 
faithful bird was always sitting on her eggs. On July 11th her 
labors were rewarded by the appearance of two healthy looking 
young birds, looking like pepper and salt as the one before. To 
prevent a recurrence of the tragedy aforesaid, I had placed boards 
along the open under border of the balustrade. The young ones 
were lively, trying to get away from a person already on the 
second day. The old one showed correspondingly bad temper- 
When she was not brooding them, she would always be next to 
them, always in such a position that her shadow fell over the small 
birds, which during the hot noonday hours certainly must have 
been a great protection for them. Whether this was ‘‘ purposely ” 
or accidentally done, who knows? July 17th, the young showed 
the first signs of feathers; the male from nearby showed much 
wrath when the young were approached. On July 22nd oneof the 
young had more feathers than the other; was also livelier, sturdier. 
By July 26th their downy natal dress was entirely replaced by 
feathers. The next day the more precocious young one had gone 
from the platform and the other one almost flew into my face. 
However, even now, when all dangers seemed to be over, one of 
the young, and that the stronger one, nearly came to grief. It 
must have perched low down somewhere, for all at once a neigh- 
boring cat was seen carrying it in the mouth. When chased she 
dropped it and it had luckily not been damaged. The next morn- 
ing, July 28th, all three were again assembled on the deck of the 
roof, but at our approach they all flew away. They remained 
about for a few more days, when they disappeared, most probably 
on their long migration southward, which is begun early by some 
of these birds. 
Like the first, these two latter ones were also fed at night only, 
and when we consider how quickly they grew and matured, we 
can imagine what an enormous amount of food, and this all 
noxious insect food, must be supplied by the old ones. They are 
worthy of every protection in our cities and should not be made 
the target of the air-gun and sling-shot of the boys on the street. 
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