four hours was back, as merry as 

 a spring robin, with a new Mrs. Cardinal 

 at his side. She fluttered about the wis- 

 teria as if looking over the ground of 

 the recent tragedy, then obediently fol- 

 lowed the cardinal to the very top of a 

 tall cedar tree, where there was certain 

 safety from attacks of the cat. Here she 

 built her nest and reared her brood. 

 When winter came, one day the cardinal 

 was by himself in the kitchen yard pick- 

 ing up crumbs. Suddenly a travelling 

 cat, on the lookout for something to eat, 

 darted around the corner of the house, 

 seized the bird and made away with him 

 before any one could come to the rescue. 

 Mrs. Cardinal was now the mourner. 

 Left alone in cold weather, when food 

 was scarce, her fate seemed a sad one. 

 But she threw herself upon my sym- 

 pathy to such an extent that many morn- 

 ings I was compelled to get up long 

 before breakfast, tO' prepare something 

 for her to eat and to place it on the top 

 of the bay window, as she was afraid to 

 come to the ground to eat. For weeks 

 I was her chief cook. If I did not 

 respond promptly to her call for food, 

 she would beat her wings against my 

 window so I could not sleep. Thus she 

 compelled me to leave my warm bed to 

 descend the back stairs in slippers and 

 dressing-gown in order to get her an 

 early breakfast. I tried putting out a 

 dish of food the night before, but it 

 froze too hard to suit her dainty taste, 

 and as she did not like grain as w^ell as 

 meat and cooked cereals, she fairly tyran- 

 nized over me. Indeed, I began to won- 

 der what kind of a life she had led Sir 

 Cardinal !" 



"Where does this bird get its long 

 name? I'd like to know," queried 

 Madge. 



''Cardinal Grosbeak gets his name 

 from the color of his hat and the size of 

 his bill," was the reply. "He easily 

 stands at the head of our list of winter 

 birds on account of his noble bearing, 

 his rich costume and unexcelled quality 

 of song. His tones are clear, mellow, 

 tender, even passionate. The female 

 sings also, but her musical ability is infe- 

 rior to that of her mate. Her dress is 

 less gaudy, the red being overspread by 

 a veil of soft brown." 



"I remember that when you were 



mending the hole in the oriole's nest, a 

 grosbeak sat nearby on a tree and 

 seemed to say distinctly, hurry! hurry!" 



"That was just because you were 

 thinking hurry yourself," cried John. 

 "Auntie, do you know of any more nest 

 tragedies ?" 



"Yes, the case of a robin. I have tried 

 to be careful about giving the birds access 

 to my darning basket on account of a 

 certain affair in a tree top for which I 

 was perhaps somewhat accountable. I 

 had been accustomed to sit on an upper 

 veranda overshadowed by a maple in 

 which Robin was building. A great 

 Maltese cat guarded the work basket, but 

 always went away with me. It thus hap- 

 pened that when the basket was left alone 

 in the aerial sitting room, Robin com- 

 mitted innumerable thefts, though he 

 may have considered them in the light of 

 only neighborly borrowings. His nest 

 began to look like Joseph's coat of many 

 colors, though black and white threads 

 predominated. All went well with the 

 birds in their variegated mansion until 

 the young ones had learned to fly, with 

 the exception of one who was evidently 

 a weakling. Coax as she might, the 

 mother bird could not prevail on it to 

 follow its mates. But one day when 

 she was away in search of food, it 

 attempted to get out of the nest and in 

 so doing caught its foot in a loop of 

 twine and hung suspended from the nest. 

 In the midst of its cries of distress, the 

 mother returned. Her anxiety was verv 

 apparent. She finally attempted to 

 replace it in the nest by flying under it 

 and raising it on her back. When she 

 found all her efforts were in vain she flew 

 off and returned with Mr. Robin. He 

 only hopped sadly about, as if saying, 

 'nothing can be done.' The mother 

 hastened away, returning soon with a 

 worm in her bill, but it was too late to 

 give nourishment, as the little one was 

 dead. I made several attempts to render 

 assistance, but dread of the Maltese cat 

 had led the robin to place the nest beyond 

 reach of human aid." 



"Auntie's stories make me so sorry 

 for the birds," said Madge. "Before 

 hearing them I thought birds were 

 always happy." 



"Isn't it wonderful," Alice said, "how 

 each species construct nests of the pecu- 



175 



