26 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



came nearer she would start off. I thought the squirrel might 

 have injured her and went toward her, intending to catch her 

 and see in what way she was hurt. When I came close to her 

 she flew away into a tall tree. Then I thought of the stories I 

 had heard and went back to the yard to see if there were any 

 young birds on the ground. I could not see any, or any place 

 which seemed suitable for her nest. At last, within six feet of 

 a bird wash, was a small trellis about five feet high and six feet 

 wide on which grew a small bushy grapevine. I • pushed the 

 leaves apart, and there was the nest with four beautiful young 

 birds just ready to fly. I gathered up some sticks and scared 

 the squirrel until he never came back. Had he found the birds 

 he would have pulled them all out of the nest, but the mother 

 bird prevented him by playing lame and coaxing him away from 

 her treasure. You cannot have birds and squirrels in the same 

 yard. 



In 1920 a pair of Redbirds made their home in a big yard, 

 containing all kinds of trees and flowers, in Shelbyville, Illi- 

 nois. They were so happy there that when winter came they 

 "moved in" with a young married couple, Mr. and Mrs. M. — 

 Every night they came up on the porch to roost, one selecting 

 a large nail on one side of the door and the other a piece of wood 

 on the other side. They never exchanged places and were al- 

 ways there at a certain time. One day there was a terrible 

 snowstorm, and when evening came "Madam Bronze," as the 

 mother bird was called, came in alone. "Red Coat" was no- 

 where to be seen or heard. About ten o'clock that night a 

 noise was heard on the front porch and when the door was 

 opened Red Coat flew in, nearly frozen. Mr. and Mrs. M — 

 got him warm and then put him on the back porch with some- 

 thing to eat. He had come to the front porch because there 

 was no light on the back porch. After that he was always at 

 home and went to bed on time. Every morning Mrs. M — 

 gave the birds a slice of bread that had been dipped in warm 

 water or milk. 



The two birds slept on the porch until late in the spring, 

 but one night Madam Bronze failed to come home, and not long 

 after Red Coat disappeared. At times one could hear him 

 singing, and I suppose he was happy over the little mud house 

 he had built somewhere in the bushes or trees. Soon he was 

 so busy hunting bugs for the little birds that he did not have 

 much time to sing. 



Then one day, several weeks after Red Coat and Madam 

 Bronze disappeared, Mrs. M — heard a noise on the back 

 porch, — "such chattering," as she called it. She opened the 

 door and what do you think she saw. There was Mr. and Mrs. 

 Red Coat and a baby just large enough to fly. They had 

 coaxed him over with a big black pinching bug and then an 

 unlucky accident occured — they dropped the bug in a pail of 



