— m — 



The eggs are from a white to a light-blue color, thick- 

 ly spotted with reddish brown, and usually four in num- 

 ber, though sometimes the fifth is deposited. When 

 everything has caught the busy bustle of advancing spring 

 the poor female is compelled to remain an anxious but 

 not an idle spectator. During the tedious days when 

 time hangs heavy the male bird cheers her hope courage 

 with his mellow song. Not far off upon a flaunting 

 bough his two-fold mission is to please and guard. Let 

 but an enemy now approach, and he darts upon him like 

 a very fiend and with a bravery that among the birds is 

 unexcelled. At length as the days roll by suddenly there 

 is a great commotio a and splutter in the nest, and four 

 gaping, greedy mouths are never satisfied. The distract- 

 ed mother sets oif on long and weary forages, full of anx- 

 iety for that unguarded home which the ill-reputed jay 

 may plunder. 



The male bird also supplies the family board; perhaps 

 akwardly enough at first, but he soon drifts in that steady 

 routine that reminds one of the once jolly 3'oun^f bach- 

 elor now hampered with the matrimonial knot and trudg- 

 ing with his market basket home. 



What a gulf between the poetic and the realistic! 

 The thrush no longer pipes his merry notes: poor fellow! 

 Where before he sang, he must now ' 'dance to another 

 tune." At last the young birds leave the nest, and he 

 seeks a long vacation amid the haunts of his poetic days. 



