Tragedies of the Nest 



231 



young Robins finally made their appearance and were thriving when, one day, 

 a black squirrel, which had always been encouraged about the house, turned 

 criminal and proceeded to devastate the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robin. Mrs. 

 Harvey noticed the confusion outside, and, upon investigation, found the 

 black intruder in the act of throwing out the little naked birds. The squirrel 

 had dropped one to the ground and was holding another in his mouth. Just 

 what his intentions were, I do not know, nor did Mr. Harvey wait to see, but 

 promptly frightened the squirrel away and replaced the little birds in their 

 nest. They did not seem to be injured and after several days were fully feathered 

 and started off to learn the art of extracting earthworms from the lawn. 



"THE FIVE YOUNG BIRDS . . . WERE BROUGHT TO MR. HARVEY" 

 Photographed by L. L. Snyder 



The next family circle to be broken up was that of a pair of Bluebirds which 

 had nested in a bird-box in the neighborhood. A boy, who wished to try out 

 his rifle, killed the mother bird. The five young birds, which were almost fully 

 fledged, were brought to Mr. Harvey. Mrs. Harvey reared the family upon 

 egg-and-milk custard, a most unusual diet for birds, but, nevertheless, the 

 youngsters did well and were soon able to feed themselves. They were then 

 given their liberty about the lawn, and it is hoped that they will all be back 

 next year. 



One day I started out for a walk, armed with my field-glasses and notebook. 

 While going through a cherry thicket, close to the edge of a pond, I caught a 

 glimpse of a tiny yellowish green bird fairly rolling over the ground. It was 

 the female Yellow Warbler. Her frantic efforts to entice me to follow her were 

 of no use, because I wanted to have a look into that little gray cup which was 



