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Bird - Lore 



almost taut when, with excited chirping, all of the Grosbeaks flew into the 

 trees, and a huge black cat bounded from behind a bush. Words fail me now, 

 as then, to express my feelings. Imagine then, if you can, my state of mind 

 the following morning, when exactly the same performance was repeated, 

 except that this time it was a yellow cat. Black cats, yellow cats, and Mal- 



THE EVENING GROSBEAKS AND THE FEEDING LOG 



tese cats were all the same to me then, and I gave up hope of ever photograph- 

 ing the Grosbeaks. 



But it is an ill wind that blows no good. If the Grosbeaks had been 

 driven from their first-chosen feeding-ground, they must find another, and 

 fortune smiled upon me once. The very next morning at dawn, the thicket 

 below my own residence resounded with their notes, and within an hour two 

 of the brids had» found one of the several feeding-stations which, with fond 

 hopes, I had established in the thicket when the birds were first reported. 

 This station, while rather inaccessible, was within sight of the house. We put 

 out enough sunflower seed to feed an army of Grosbeaks, having discovered 

 by this time that they preferred these seeds to the others, and the next morning 

 we were rewarded by having the whole flock feeding within sight of our own 

 windows. There were no cats here, and as soon as the Grosbeaks had once 

 formed the habit of coming to be fed it proved irresistible, and regularly as 

 the clock struck they arrived every morning at half past six. 



With them so close at hand, it was easy to study them and watch their 

 changes with the progress of the season. At first they were wild and never 

 remained after eight in the morning, but later, as other food became scarce, 

 they grew tamer and remained all the morning and even into the afternoon. 



