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AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



appeared in the tree nearby and then she seemed satisfied. One morn- 

 ing early she sought her mate to tell the good news. They returned to 

 the nest together and tenderly talked to the dearest chick that ever was 

 seen, and by night all three were hatched. To me they were naked ugly 

 little things, but they were objects of devoted care by the parent birds. 

 Worms were their food at first, and then an oat-field near by furnished 

 food for the hungry fledglings. They grew rapidly and one morning 

 the old birds coaxed the little ones out of the nest, into the big world, 

 and they were gone. The brilliant plumage of the cardinals makes its 

 end a tragedy. In Louisiana they are hunted and trapped for sale, as 

 cage birds, until they are nearly exterminated. Their pathetic fate 

 appeals to bird lovers, and unless something can be done for their pro- 

 tection the Cardinal Grosbeak will be gone from the wild bird life of this 

 state. 



Mrs. L. G. Baldwin, La. 



YOUNG GREEN HERONS. 



