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The first clutch of eggs came to nothing.


In July they nested again, but without any feature of

general interest coming under my notice. I fear I hardly

thought of them.


Early in August these birds were again nesting: on the

3rd of that month I noticed them mating.


On October 7th, on peeping into the aviary from a window,

I found three Cordon Bleus feeding below me. So nearly alike

in size were they that, had I not known that there had been but

two in the garden, it would not have occurred to me that one

w’as a young bird. Doubtless I had seen this young bird before,

but without noticing it. The young Cordon seemed to be as

long and as large as his parents, though actually he was less

bulky. The blue seemed as brilliant as that of his father : he

was much more brilliant than his mother. The beak was pinky

white merging into black at the tip, and the crimson ear-patch

did not appear until later, but otherwise he was practically in the

plumage of the adult male. From that time I kept my eye on

him. Only once did I see him fed, and that was by his father.

At first his baby note was occasionally uttered, and this was not

unlike the squeak of the young Parrot Finch.


The parents later went to nest for the fourth time ; but

the leaves of the Virginia creeper were, falling, and soon the nest

was left fully exposed. One day there was a great uproar in the

aviary, caused by some dozen birds who had become strangely

excited at the sight of the nest and its occupant, and Were

hovering around it, the little mother, greatly concerned, hopping

nervously about in the rear of the mob. Suddenly the male

darted out from the nest at his nearest foe and was back again—

all in a flash : to have entered into combat with one bird would

have left the eggs exposed to the depredations of the others, and

he was too wary for that. I drove the birds away, and the attack

was not renewed. These eggs likewise came to nothing.


To what extent these numerous failures were due to the

cold, or to the disturbances, I cannot sa)^, but doubtless the cold

had a good deal to do w 7 ith it. It was not until quite late in the

autumn that I became aware that a pair of innocent-looking

Bearded Tits were inveterate egg-stealers : possibly they may

have had a finger in the pie. It is curious, but not one of the

birds ever attempted to defend its nest from their snake-like

approaches, which I had witnessed on many occasions without

taking in the full significance of their movements.


All the Cordons’ nests were independent domed dry-grass-



