164 



Bird - Lore 



There were three farmhouses in sight of 

 camp. One day as we were driving past 

 the farmhouse just back of our camp, I 

 noticed a bird-box on a tall, slender pole 

 just back of the house and remarked that 

 there was probably one of the homes of 

 the Bluebirds. A little farther on we over- 

 took the owner of the place, in blue over- 

 alls, with a tin milk-pail on his arm. I 

 stopped the horse and told him I noticed 

 his bird-house as I passed and asked 

 whether he had had Bluebirds for tenants. 

 His face lighted up and he said, "Blue- 

 birds? I should say so!" He then told me 

 that he had built eight boxes and the Blue- 

 birds had occupied six of them. That very 

 morning they had paid a visit to the boxes 

 and he had counted thirty-two in the flock. 

 He said after the Bluebirds had been there 

 some time a Wren tried to take possession 

 of one of the two unoccupied boxes, but he 

 saw right away that the Bluebirds did not 

 like the Wren so he drove it off. I told 

 him why the Bluebirds do not care for the 

 Wrens. 



I wish to add that the Wren this last 

 summer again interfered with the second 

 nesting of my Bluebirds. The first egg was 

 laid one morning between 9 and 10 o'clock, 

 and before 11 o'clock the Wren had visited 

 the box and broken the egg. I noticed in 

 the report from the Connecticut Birdcraft 

 Sanctuary in Bird-Lore that thirteen pairs 

 of Wrens and only two pairs of Bluebirds 

 nested there. It is my belief that the 

 Wrens are very destructive to Bluebirds' 

 eggs at the second nesting. — Mrs. Arthur 

 F. Gardner, Troy, N. V. 



A Confusion of Instincts 



Last summer a pair of Robins nested 

 three times about the house and built a 

 new nest each time. As soon as one brood 

 of young Robins was safely down from 

 the nest and hidden away in the grape- 

 arbor, the mother Robin would begin to 

 carry material for a new nest. 



One day, just as she started for the nest 

 with her mouth full of string, one of the 

 baby birds called for food. She ran across 

 the lawn to him and stuffed the string into 



his mouth. He held it for a minute then 

 spit it out. She picked it up and put it 

 back into his mouth. When he spit it out 

 again, she picked it up and carried it off 

 to the nest. A day or two after this I saw 

 her do the same with a bill full of dried 

 grass. The baby Robins soon learned to 

 look to the father Robin for their food. — 

 Mrs. Arthur F. Gardner, Troy, N. Y. 



A Clever Robin 



So many interesting stories about Robins 

 are written for Bird-Lore that I should 

 like to offer an additional incident. 



We were riding in the country one rainy 

 morning, when, close beside the road, we 

 spied a Robin tugging at a great angle- 

 worm half out of the ground, and we 

 stopped to watch the proceedings. Sir 

 Robin was having a struggle indeed. 

 Finally he landed his catch, which proved 

 to be nearly as long as himself, and stood 

 over it for a moment, too glad of the 

 opportunity to rest to be afraid of our 

 presence. Presently he seized the worm 

 by one end and flew off with several inches 

 of it trailing from his yellow bill. 



This was the worm's opportunity, and 

 it made the most of it. Around Sir Robin's 

 leg it twined and squirmed and clung, and 

 promptly to the ground came the former 

 to see what the trouble was all about. 

 Dropping the captive end of his victim, he 

 proceeded to free himself from the snaky 

 coils; then, as if determined that such a 

 thing should not occur again, he firmly bit 

 that worm in two, picked up both pieces — 

 nearer the center this time — and flew off 

 in triumph with a morning meal for his 

 little ones. — Mary T. Barrett, Portland, 

 Maine. 



Wrens Drive Away English Sparrows 



A tin can from an oil-stove was hung 

 from a hook and reserved for Bluebirds. 

 No Bluebirds came but a pair of English 

 Sparrows inspected it carefully one entire 

 season before they decided it was safe, 

 then proceeded to occupy it for two years. 



One April day when a brood of Sparrows 



