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Bird- Lore 



The four young were hatched in the night of May 8 and 9, one of the egg- 

 shells being yet in the nest at 6.30 in the morning. The period of incubation 

 had been thirteen days. 



By the middle of May the nestlings had grown until they filled the nest, 

 and the parents were showing their fighting blood by attacking us fiercely 

 whenever we ventured to put our heads out of the window. On the 17th both 

 windows were open. I had been standing at one of them, looking out, and had 



THE LOOKOUT IN THE HORSE-CHESTNUT TREE 



withdrawn into the room, when the female bird made a surprise attack. She 

 dashed into the room through one of the windows, grabbed viciously at my 

 scalp with her claws, completed her invasion with a circle around the room, 

 and then flew out through the other window. I was so startled by the sharp 

 pain and the suddenness of the onslaught that I failed to make note of further 

 details, but I believe the attack was a strictly silent one as I cannot recall 

 any vocal sound. 



On May 22, twenty-seven days after the complement of eggs had been 

 deposited, the young were out of the nest and one of them was sitting in the 



