Two Notes by a Young Observer 



EDMUND B. DIBBLE. St. Paul, Minn. (:i.l;v(I i;,) 



A Word about Blucjays. — One morning when out on the lawn I 

 saw a Bluejay fly quietly into a tree, look around, then hop up near 

 a Robin's nest. He looked around again, then hopped up to the rim 

 and leaned over as if to take out an egg, but a Robin which hap- 

 pened to fly up to the nest just then saw him and, redoubling its 

 speed, flew against the Bluejay's neck and (whether to try to hold it- 

 self up or pull the Bluejay down I do not know) held on. Both 

 tumbled to the ground, and for a moment the Bluejay 'didn't know 

 what struck him.' Then the other Robin came and began pecking 

 at the Jay's eyes, whereupon Robin No. i let go and began pecking 

 too. The Jay seemed to think things were getting too warm for him 

 and started for the woods near by, where I could hear the cries of 

 both him and the Robins who had followed him. 



Last year a Bluejay robbed a Sparrow's nest just outside my 

 window. I awoke one morning to hear a great outcry among the 

 English Sparrows and, going to the window, saw a Jay just gulping 

 down something. Then he leaned over and lifted a young bird up, 

 but I tapped on the window and he dropped the bird and flew aw^ay. 

 When I looked in the nest one bird was missing. 



The Feeding of Young Horned Larks. — One afternoon (May ii), 

 desiring to know how many times the Horned Larks brought food 

 to their young, I posted myself where I could watch them. Although 

 I was too far away to distinguish what they gave the young, I could 

 see the little fellows open their yellow mouths to receive the food. 



I started my watching at just four o'clock, and below are the 

 times at which the birds brought the food for about one hour: 4.01, 

 4.013^, 4.06, 4.10, 4.ii>^, 4.14, 4.20, 4.24, 4.29}^, 4.31, 4.371^, 4-39>^. 

 4.41, 4.46, 4.50, 4.52, 4.55V', 4.58, 5.00, 5.02. It will be seen that 

 this made twenty times in about one hour or, on an average, every 

 three minutes. 



At the first glance this may seem extraordinary, but as there were 

 four young ones, each would be fed only once every twelve minutes. 

 But think of the number of insects destroyed in a season. The 

 parents work from twelve to sixteen hours a day, and raise three or 

 four broods of four or five birds each in a season. Just think how 

 soon the insects would become unbearable if it were not for our 

 feathered friends ! Man alone could do almost nothing against them. 



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