A Chebec's Second Brood i6i 



the desired height. I am thus explicit because, in this case, I did what 

 Professor Herrick did not do, i. e., alter the immediate surroundings of 

 the nest, and this alteration may have affected the result. All the morn- 

 ing an interested group watched the little Chebec, and marveled at her 

 activity. For it soon became evident that the female alone was bringing 

 up the second brood. The male may have strayed off with the first 

 brood ; at any rate only one bird busied herself with these three young 

 ones. She was not able to economize time as the Cedarbirds had done, by 

 bringing a square meal for all at one trip ; she brought each separate insect 

 as fast as she caught it. Often she was back again within half a minute, 

 and in one period of fifteen minutes, she made twelve trips to the nest. 



When night came, I was disturbed to find that the little bird was 

 apparently not intending to brood the young. Even when it was quite 

 dark, I found that they were not covered by her. Whether this was 

 because of the new crotch, I do not know. I am now convinced that 

 the proper way to meet such a contingency would be to return the nest 

 at once to the old site. This I have since done in cases where the old 

 birds either could not find the new site or did not choose to come to it. 

 That evening, however, thinking that the old bird knew what she was 

 about, I left the nest in its new site. In the night a violent thunder- 

 storm came up, and before I could get the birds into shelter one had 

 already died. I kept the others warm, and the next morning fed them 

 with fiies, learning incidentally some interesting facts about the available 

 stimuli for making young birds open their mouths. When the storm 

 passed, I replaced the nest and had the satisfaction of seeing the old bird 

 return to feed the survivors. If the nest had been a mile from my 

 house, as it easily might have been, I could not have reached it in time 

 to save any of the birds. 



I have been led to give the above details, partly because several of 

 the circumstances connected with the rearing of this second brood are 

 interesting. My particular object in telling the story, however, is to warn 

 any one who thinks of trying Professor Herrick's method against a 

 danger, of which he, I believe, does not speak. The danger to young 

 birds from violent thunderstorms must, under any circumstances, be great, 

 but the birds should certainly have the benefit of as much shelter as pos- 

 sible, and the old site will, from the nature of things, be more leafy than 

 the new one which we choose. I have, in another instance, nailed a 

 Vireo's nest into the tree again, when a storm threatened, and I suggest 

 that this plan should be promptly resorted to whenever the old birds are 

 slow to take to the new site. Professor Herrick's warning against keep- 

 ing the old birds too long from the nest gains strength when we remem- 

 ber how often the young Chebecs were fed. A long fast probably lessens 

 their power of resistance more than that of other species. 



